Frozen Memories
by Magister Fay
Summary: Memory is everything...so when one's memories are lost in time, what becomes of one? Does one cease to be? Or does one step forward, free of the past, to seek a new future?
1. Prologue

I don't own Fate. Fate is the property of Type-Moon, and no financial gain is made from this or is sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

Frozen Memories

Prologue

" _Subject E-0057…" the words trickled through a haze, and she opened her eyes weakly. "…the removal of extraneous elements is complete."_

 _Dimly…through a haze…pain…? What was that? She tried to move, only to receive no response from her limbs. It all felt familiar, as though something…like…this…why was it that she already felt resigned?_

 _What was resignation anyway?_

 _What was familiar?_

 _There was metal around her – her (?) – shaped like spiders – spiders (?) – and with their limbs driven into her flesh. What…were…limbs? Dimly she heard numbers being shouted in the background, and felt the metal spiders pumping something in and out of her. What were numbers?_

" _Conceptual anchors indicate stability values in the negative." The words slipped through the haze. "Proto-geometric stabilization will proceed as needed. Neural topology is scrambled at non-optimal values. Adjust as needed."_

 _She felt something sliding into (?) her…it was like…like…white-hot…what was 'hot'? It felt like something was cutting into her, and she felt…what did she feel? What was 'feel'?_

" _Nervous activity detected." The words slipped through. "Brain activity confirmed."_

" _Apply sedative."_

" _Negative…pain is irrelevant."_

" _Neural damage may be exacerbated otherwise. Apply the sedative."_

" _Understood…ORACLE is ready."_

" _Connect…purge unnecessary information in time with neural adjustment and proto-geometric stabilization."_

" _ORACLE is connected. Applying sedative…"_

 _Cold…what was cold? What was flowing into her neck? What was a neck anyway? Why…did she…feel like sleep? What is sleep?_

" _Set the proto-geometric configuration to Domain…"_

* * *

 _Blue eyes slowly opened, and the young girl shifted slightly. Her entire body hurt, or rather felt sore, as if she'd scrubbed too hard on her skin while taking a bath. Shifting some more, the young girl sat up, and rubbed at her limbs. She blinked and tilted her head at the faint silver lines crisscrossing parts of her arms. Raising a hand, she tugged on her smock and looked down. There were lines there too…_

 _A sharp burst of pain caused her to wince, and a hand rose to her head. There was a bandage there, wrapped around her head. Black hair (?) fell to her shoulders, with white streaks like ice on rock wildly running through them. She blinked again._

" _Oh hello!" someone cheerfully said, and she turned her head sharply to the side. Standing in the doorway was a girl of about her age, with long white hair and red eyes. "You're awake! You've been asleep for three days now, and I was getting worried that you'd never wake up."_

" _Three days…?"_

 _The white-haired girl nodded. "Yup..." She confirmed. "…it's been three days since grandfather had you brought here."_

" _I-I see…"_

 _The white-haired girl coughed and sat down on a chair beside the bed. "Anyway…" she began. "…my name's Illyasviel von Einzbern, but you can just call me Illya. What's your name?"_

 _The girl blinked, and shook her head slowly. There was another burst of pain, and again her hand rose to her head. "I don't know." She said slowly. "I don't know who I am, where I'm from, or why I'm even here."_

" _I see…" the other girl – Illya – said with a tone of sympathy. What was…sympathy anyway? "…in that case I'll give you a name!"_

" _Eh?"_

" _Let's see…" Illya said theatrically while looking the other girl over. A few moments later and her eyes homed-in on the ice-on-rock pattern of the other girl's hair. Her eyes lit up. "…I know! Your hair looks like it's been frosted over, so Frost it is!_

" _F-Frost…?" the other girl asked._

" _Yup…!" Illya affirmed with a nod. "Frost von Einzbern…let's be friends, alright?"_

 _A smile (?) tugged slightly at the other girl, no Frost's lips. "Okay…" she said softly. "…I think that I'd like that…Illya…"_

* * *

"Einzbern…Einzbern… **EINZBERN!** " the blonde shouted and finally physically grabbed her friend to shake her awake.

"W-w-what?" the flustered girl spluttered as she awoke. "Edelfelt…what's the problem? Did something happen? Did I miss something?"

"It's almost nightfall." Luviagelita 'Luvia' Edelfelt said with a roll of her eyes. "And the town's going to be crawling with ghouls…again."

"This is why I told you we should have just pounded the town into dust from a safe distance." Frost von Einzbern complained while sliding back the bolt of her Glock 17. It slid back home with well-maintained precision. "But no…we have to do it the old-fashioned way."

Luvia muttered something unflattering under her breath. "And pray tell…" she began coldly. "…where were you supposed to get something like that?"

Frost muttered something just as uncomplimentary under her breath, and Luvia smirked. "I'm going to get you back for this." She warned the blonde, even as the Sun finally set. The silence lasted for a few more moments, and then snarling could be heard from outside of the abandoned house they were sheltering in. Frost checked her Heckler and Kock MP5.

The door burst open, a horde of ravening and slavering ghouls charging in…only to have the doorway – along with part of the surrounding wall – blown out in a shower of debris and rotting body parts by a series of claymore explosives. Gunfire and Gandr rounds followed, the two magi – well one magus and one spell-caster actually – following through with extreme prejudice.

The SMG ran dry as the ghouls finally began to slacken, and with a muttered curse Frost holstered it before drawing her Glock and opening fire. "Don't fall behind!" Luvia shouted as she dove into the fray and out into the street. Frost cursed again before following, drawing a KM2000 combat knife and using it alongside her pistol.

Luvia was using her kickboxing skills in conjunction with reinforcement to lethal effect, each punch or kick pulping heads and caving chest cavities in. By contrast Frost was brutally effective, sacrificing finesse in favor of results. Her knife was cutting ghouls to pieces one-handed, while her pistol was useful for both shooting and braining, and once the ammo was spent, was solely used for braining. "There's no end to this..." She muttered as she dispatched a ghoul before throwing her knife into a ghoul's forehead over Luvia's shoulder. "…or not."

That was the last ghoul…until another one of them jumped down from a rooftop and landed behind her. It tried to wrap its arms around the Einzbern girl before biting down into her neck, but Frost simply grabbed its neck first and hurled it down to the ground before her and crushed its head with a booted foot. "Watch your back." Luvia said while retrieving Frost's knife. "I'd rather not have an ally's death on my conscience.

"You should take your own advice then girl." A male voice put in, and Luvia froze as she heard and felt a gun behind her head.

"Enhance…" Frost said. "…you're late…by about a day."

The renegade Dead Apostle Ancestor gave a shrug before withdrawing his weapon and letting Luvia get to her feet. "I got held up." He said. "And besides, haven't you noticed that there are fewer ghouls than there should be?"

"Point…" Frost conceded while cleaning her knife. The vampire snorted and regarded her coolly.

"I've heard about you Einzbern." He said. "And you too Edelfelt. Two young killer-for-hires in the supernatural underground…you've got quite the reputations, which is why I had you two as backup on this job...and you nearly get overrun. It's a bit disappointing really."

"Then you should look closer." Luvia snapped back before turning to Frost. "Frost…?"

The other girl shrugged and pulled out a detonator switch. "Oh hell…" Enhance said with a growing smile.

"Hell is right." Frost said while playing with the switch by tossing it with a hand. "I rigged this entire place to blow during the daytime. Of course there were still ghouls in the shadowed areas, and especially in the underground, but I just had to get my charges on the right spots in the municipal gas lines. Not getting caught was the hard part though…quite tiring to be honest…"

She gave a hard look at Luvia who glared back. "Can we just get out of here and blow the town sky-high?" the blonde asked irritably. "I'm sure our 'partner' has already finished the main business at hand."

"Damn straight I have." Enhance drawled while turning his back. "Come on you two, let's get out of here."

* * *

"Do we still have to blow the town up?" Luvia asked. "It just seems so…inelegant to me."

"Far better than cleaning up all those corpses…" Frost argued as the three of them passed an abandoned checkpoint a short distance from the town. "…and going to all the effort of 'correcting' the mundane records in this town. A gas explosion works as a cover well enough. This should be safe enough, I think. Ready…?"

Enhance shrugged without any concern, which he didn't have. As a Dead Apostle, even if he did get caught in Frost's little inferno, he'd probably just come out of it with mild burns and a stoked temper. Luvia sighed and nodded. Frost pushed the trigger.

At first there was nothing, and then in the distance massive flowers and clouds of flame erupted into the sky. "Well…" Frost said as the explosions erupted outwards in an expanding spider-web of destruction across the town, the rumbling growing in volume and beginning to shake the air and ground alike. "…that's that I suppose."

And then the mains exploded. The blast wave was quite visible, and literally sent Luvia and Frost tumbling on their backs several feet. Enhance chuckled at the sight. He'd been forced back too, but unlike the Human girls, the male vampire had managed to stay on his feet.

"Next time you decide to bomb a gas line…" he said with a cheeky grin to Frost and to Luvia who were struggling to clear their heads and to get back on their feet. "…don't forget about how much fuel and how much pressure it's under, got it?"

"Got it…" Frost agreed, deciding to lie back and rest for a moment. And in any case their trip back was on its way, if the sound of helicopters approaching was any indication.

"Is that it?" Luvia asked from where she was lying beside Frost.

"It seems that way." The girl with black and white hair answered, and they shared glances. It started out as muffled snickers, and then it turned to giggling, until finally the two of them were laughing as they lay on the ground, illuminated by the gas fires. Enhance rolled his eyes at the sight.

 _Humans…_

* * *

A/N

I was…unsatisfied with how I wrote Heart of Iron, so I decided to rework it. Voila…!

Take a wild guess who and what (condition) Frost is. No seriously, the German and English words for 'frost' are the same.


	2. Chapter 1

I don't own Fate. Fate is the property of Type-Moon, and no financial gain is made from this or is sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

Frozen Memories

Chapter 1

The entertainment district of Amsterdam was busy…with sin.

Not that Frost von Einzbern really cared. She'd been an assassin and a mercenary since she was ten, and before that she'd grown up in a traditional magus household. Neither situation was conducive to a morally-upright mentality, and while she would say that she wasn't a 'bad' person, she wouldn't say that she was a 'good' person either. She was merely…indifferent.

That same indifference served her well, the cool expression of her face lending several years to her otherwise adolescent features. Combined with her clothes – men's business attire under a black overcoat – and her buxom assets, she looked to be in her early twenties, and so none reacted to the presence of an adolescent girl in the entertainment district so late.

Ignoring the resulting murmurs and whispered complaints, she bypassed the long line leading up to the entrance of a bar called the Black Pirate. It wasn't particularly notable-looking, featuring the usual amount of tinted glass, soft ambient lighting, and brass railings of such establishments, but she'd been a patron of the place since she was thirteen, and it showed as the guards didn't even twitch as she walked straight up to the bouncer at the door.

"Hey Andre…" she said pleasantly, speaking in English as opposed to Dutch. "…how are you doing?"

"About as well as might be expected…" the hulking man replied with a bored glance at her. "…you…?"

"The same..." Frost replied before taking a look behind her at the slightly-mutinous expression of the people in the line. "…how's business?"

"See for yourself."

"Right…am I on the list?"

"Let's see…" the man began and briefly leafed through the clipboard in his hands. And then he tapped her on the head with it. "…don't ask stupid questions. You're always on the list."

"Much appreciated…" she said with a grin, and stepped past the bouncer and into the bar. Behind her she heard the man at the front of the line arguing heatedly with the bouncer. Apparently he didn't like the idea of someone looking like just another office lady getting in before him.

"Hey I've been in the line for two hours! How come she gets to go in?"

"One: she's a VIP. Two: she's on the list. Three: you're neither. You have a problem with that, tough guy?"

Frost shook her head and stepped further into the bar. Thumping and heavy bass hammered at her, and she sidestepped her way through the press of writhing forms on the dance floor towards the bar proper. "Hey there Einzbern…" the bartender, a young man named Rivalz in his late twenties greeted her. "…the usual…?"

"Naturally…" she replied while taking a seat. Rivalz laughed and busied himself with making her drink. Frost relaxed slightly on her seat, slouched with an elbow on the bar counter behind her, blue eyes raking the crowd for potential threats, one hand not far from the Glock 17 at her waist, carefully but casually covered by her overcoat. A thump drew her attention, and Rivalz slid a glass across the counter towards her.

"Cheers…!" he said, and she smiled at him. She took the glass and toasting him, took a drink before returning her gaze to the crowd. Sipping her scotch, the alcohol numbed her consciousness, and through the hazy atmosphere, replete with colored lights and beating with overly-loud music she felt her thoughts begin to melt away…

* * *

 _Explosions fountained flame and debris up into the air, as jets bearing the hinomaru and the Union Jack soared over Dubai, and in the distance artillery could be heard pounding away at the insurgents dug-in at the city outskirts. At sea, the Japanese battleships Yamato and Jimmu were opening fire, coordinating with Commonwealth and East Asian artillery units and IJN and RN carrier aviation to open up the city for UN Coalition troops._

 _The main streets were packed full, panicked crowds trying to escape the city while fanatical insurgents rushed to the frontlines or to the harbor in what they believed was a divinely-assured battle against foreign infidels. The girl running through the back alleys thought them fools._

 _There was no God. God did not exist. Or even if He did exist, He didn't exist in the way that they believed He did._

 _She thought them fools, not just for their fanaticism, but also for believing that they could even hope to win against the crack Commonwealth and East Asian troops massing against the city. But they were not her concern. Someone else was._

 _He was a Sheikh, or at least that's what he appeared on the surface. In truth he was more than that, he was an alchemist, and one that had a big fat bounty on his head, and too many people wanted what he knew. Embedded within the UN Coalition were Enforcers tasked with taking him into custody, but at the rate they were cracking the city open there was a good chance that the Sheikh could escape._

 _He must not be allowed to escape._

 _And more importantly, he could not be allowed to fall into Association hands. He knew too much, and with a sealing designation on his head if they got hold of him then they would gain what he knew. And that was unacceptable to too many people and their families._

 _Even if it meant a collective setback to the advancement of magecraft, if it meant safeguarding the secrets of their mysteries – the keys to unlocking were held by the man – then so be it._

 _Ten million pounds sterling through third parties…of which seven million would go to her backers, House von Einzbern, should she succeed in this job. Three million wasn't a bad sum though._

 _Five insurgents ran around a corner a good distance before her. They spotted her and raised their AK-47s as she was already pulling the trigger._

 _Three went down to three-round bursts. The other two dove to cover in alleys to the side. She jumped past the intersection, grenades falling to either side. Explosions behind her confirmed their deaths._

 _The Yamato fired its main batteries. The 18-inch shells landed on a SAM site less than half-a-hundred feet away, the explosion shaking the entire block and tumbling the twelve year-old to the ground. She picked up her weapons and shaking her head clear she pressed on to her objective, ignoring the jets soaring overhead and the explosions across the city._

Consciousness snapped back into place, a hand grabbing vise-like on a hand trying to cop a feel while the other swiftly dropped the scotch glass on the table before fixing itself just as vise-like on the man's neck. "Peter…" she said coolly. "…don't you ever learn?"

"I do…" Peter Zeller gasped out, and Frost let him go. The information broker rubbed at his neck, and Frost went back to her drink. "…what's the score?"

"Thirty to nothing…" Frost replied with a smile, completely back to normal. "…you do realize that what you keep trying to do is rather…immoral?"

"Considering how old you are and yet you're drinking scotch right now, are you really one to talk?"

"Alcohol and harassment are two entirely different things."

"Fair enough…"

"You're not going to give up, are you?"

"Maybe…" he said with a smirk, and Frost rolled her eyes while shifting in her seat. The shift incidentally briefly exposed her pistol, and Peter's smile went brittle before vanishing. The message was quite clear.

 _Playing around is fine, but go too far, and I'll kill you._

And he didn't doubt that she could pull it off either. The man coughed and pulled out a letter and slid it across the counter to her. Parchment and wax…Frost took a brief glance at the seal and then slid the letter into a pocket inside her overcoat.

"Not going to read it…?" Peter asked.

"Not here…" she replied, finishing her drink and leaving the empty glass along with several Euros on the counter. Peter followed her with his eyes, but she ignored him, sweeping out of the bar.

" _Aristocrats and magi…_ " he thought contemptuously. " _…they're bad enough as they are, but make them overlap, and they get ten times worse. Outdated institutions…well they'll all be gone in a century or so, and in the meantime I might as well make money out of them as long and as best I can._ "

Peter Zeller would be found dead two years later in a Dutch canal, with a pair of 9mm rounds in his head. The case would never be solved, his assets never recovered, and no suspects would ever be uncovered.

* * *

 _Tanks pulverized buildings as British, Indian, ANZAC, Japanese, and Indonesian troops smashed their way into the city, artillery shells chewing up the insurgent-infested suburbs before them. Jets soared over the city, explosions following in their trail while helicopter gunships deployed SNLF and Royal Marines against critical positions in the city._

 _A girl in a camo-pattern sweatshirt and cargo pants over combat boots lay prone on a building overlooking one of the main thoroughfares of the city, staring down through the scope of a Barrett M82. Interestingly enough none of the mobs and fanatics milling around the city showed any interest in the thoroughfare, even if it led to one of the city's smaller docks. Neither did the IJN and the RN._

 _Bounded fields…wonderful things…unless one had magical potential, in which case sensory disruption based on mental interference would be cancelled out. There were limitations, but she apparently fell outside of those limitations._

 _Ten cars made their way down the thoroughfare, and Frost cursed. None of them had any indications of rank or importance, and her target could just as easily be in the lead car as in the center one. But she had ways of getting around that._

 _Magi naturally had higher body temperatures compared to normal Humans, an unavoidable side-effect of their magic circuits. Frost slid an infra-red adaptor onto the scope and carefully-scanned the vehicles in the motorcade._

 _Checkmate…_

 _The brightest hotspot was busy carousing with someone else in the same car, and it was with a mix of disgust that she homed in on the hotspot…and with a sense of relief that she pulled the trigger. The city was dying around him, and he still had the time to rut like an animal…good riddance._

 _Of course the higher temperature could just have a side-effect of arousal instead of magic circuits, but everyone else had normal heat indications…at any rate the question was academic, as the motorcade ground to a halt. Bodyguards and hired guns rushed out of their vehicles and rushed to the car wherein the target had been riding…Frost was certain that had she missed or hit the wrong target, the man's car would be speeding away down towards the water._

 _Still, she hadn't hit him in the head. If he had a crest, he still might survive so long as he had prana. She had to make sure. Getting to one knee, she picked up a MILAN launcher, armed and aimed it, and pulled the trigger. She kept it aimed at the target vehicle, guiding the missile to the target, and only discarded it as an explosion lit up the entire target area._

 _Mission accomplished, and three million pounds sterling to her._

Frost von Einzbern woke in her hotel bed, and after fumbling around for some time she finally pushed herself out of bed and rose to her feet. She called for room service, and had a hot shower while waiting for her breakfast to arrive: fish and mash, with black coffee.

She opened the letter with a drop of her blood on the seal before breakfast, and read it over while eating. " _Luvia's probably causing all sorts of trouble right about now._ " she mused while nursing her coffee.

She finished her coffee and put on her clothes – freshly laundered as per the hotel's advertised services – before gathering her things and leaving for the elevator and thence to the lobby. A call was made to the valet, and in a minute she was driving out of the hotel and through Amsterdam and thence down the highway towards Germany. She had an appointment to meet.

* * *

Black-suited albinos stood guard around an abandoned farmstead, and warily observed a black Porsche 911 drive up and come to a halt in the yard. A blonde man in a frock coat came out, and smiled and held out his arms as his niece came out of the car.

"Uncle Wolfram…!" Frost said happily as she quickly closed the distance and embraced her uncle.

"It's good to see you too, _schätzchen_." The older man said, and with an arm around her shoulders led her inside. The inside of the farmstead was about as desolate as the exterior, but there was a laptop and several files on a table in the middle. "Have you been well?"

"As well as might be expected from someone of my occupation." She replied, and Wolfram laughed and patted her on the back.

"Well I have good news and bad news." He said. "Shall I start with the bad news?"

"Very well…"

"The bad news is that after this job you have another one, and much like this one it's a job for the family." Wolfram said. In other words she would get support, but no payment.

"And the good news…?"

"Actually there is more than one piece of good news." Wolfram said with a warm smile, and Frost smiled back.

"Oh…? Let's hear it then."

"The first is that Illyasviel sent you a letter." Wolfram said, and giving another envelope to Frost who took it and put it in a pocket for reading later. "Your cousin expects a reply mind. Moving on, the second piece of good news is that you have some time off between this job and the next one, which means that you can return home for a time. Illyasviel in particular quite misses you, as do Frühling and Herbst among others. And the third and final piece of good news is that the next job includes payment."

 _That_ caught her by surprise. Family duty was usually unpaid for, given that it should be and was done out of obligation. Nor did she begrudge it. Even if she wasn't an Einzbern by blood, she was one by name and upbringing. And even if many if not most of the family saw her as an outcast, an Edelfelt waif and guinea pig taken in and brought up by the family for some strange reason or another, they were still all she had.

And she treasured them all and not just the ones who accepted her fully…and there were quite a lot of those too. After all, family – even ones in name – was everything.

The surprise must have shown on her face, since Wolfram raised an eyebrow at you. "Is something wrong _schätzchen_?" he asked.

"Well no, not really…" she replied, fumbling for the right words. Wolfram chuckled and pressed her gently.

"Go on and say what's on your mind, I won't bite."

"I don't particularly relish the idea of being paid for family duty." Frost said while looking away in mild embarrassment. "It is family duty after all…filial obligation…it should be done out of free will and with complete acceptance. No compensation should be necessary."

Wolfram smiled warmly and patted her on the shoulder. "We really have made an Einzbern of you, haven't we?" he asked somewhat wistfully.

"I was never an Edelfelt." She said, and for a moment there was something in his eyes: regret, sorrow, and even contemplation. And then it was gone, replaced by pride, love, and acceptance.

"No…" he said. "…you never were. But you are an Einzbern now, and that means everything to us."

He broke off and coughed. "Very well…" he said. "…you will learn of the details of the next job when the time comes. In the meantime, you may consider what comes with it not as compensation, but as a…privilege, and perhaps even a great honor of an opportunity."

"In that case I will accept, and do my utmost to make my family proud."

Wolfram almost looked sad for a moment, but then he nodded and moved on. "Those are matters for another time." He said while walking over to the table and turning the laptop so that it faced them. A familiar face was on the monitor. "You know this man, _ja_?"

Frost glanced at the laptop and raised an eyebrow. "Dr. Hans Schultz…" she said. "…he's one of ours, isn't he?"

"He was." Wolfram confirmed. "However he's absconded with a new prototype homunculus, and we want it and him back."

"It was a mistake to let an outsider like him into our fold anyway." she muttered, and Wolfram laughed.

"A tad hypocritical, wouldn't you think?" he pointed out, and she shrugged.

"I have the Einzbern name…" she said, and Wolfram laughed again. "…and I grew up as part of the family. There is no hypocrisy in my words."

"No, there is none." Wolfram agreed. "It was a mistake to let him and others like him in, and it is a mistake that is being corrected as we speak. You on the other hand, are to make sure that _this_ ends before it can start a fire."

Wolfram began opening files, and Frost stepped closer to have a look at them. "Currently Schultz has taken up refuge at Odessa in the Ukraine." Wolfram said. "He's also hiring mercenaries – ex-Red Army soldiers it would seem – to guard him and his ill-gotten loot in transit to Moscow. From there it seems that he will use the Trans-Siberian Railway to escape to the Far East."

"Is there a possibility of Chinese or Japanese influence in this?" Frost asked. "Magi of both countries – and indeed Far Eastern magi in general – have no links with the Association, and would likely not fear defying its members, even the leading ones. After all, it's not like we have much influence inside either the Chinese Union or the Japanese Empire."

"The Association has some clout in Japan and most of the ANEA, but China…" Wolfram trailed off, and then directed his niece's attention to another file. There was a picture of a Chinese man with cruel features. "…Lao Ren…apparently he's Schultz's personal bodyguard in Odessa, and according to our sources, he's a rather formidable magus in his own right. Something about specializing in _shikigami_ …Far Eastern magecraft outside our knowledge…be careful Frost. This man is not to be taken lightly."

"Is he a magus?" Frost asked instead, and Wolfram looked at her curiously. After a moment, recognition dawned on his face.

"Yes, he's a magus." He said, and Frost placed her Glock 17 on the table.

"In that case, I won't underestimate him." She said. "And while Schultz might tell him that we employ spell-casters for…specialist roles, I certainly hope that he underestimates me."

Wolfram blinked and then laughed loudly for several moments. "Yes, I certainly hope so too." He said, and patting his niece on the back. "Come…I know you already have some ideas on how to deal with this. I have taken the liberty of preparing some equipment that you might need or want, based on past experience about your operations. It is being kept some distance from here, but while on the way, I would like to hear those ideas of yours."

* * *

A/N

Cherry Kariya: ten points…! Horrible treatment…eh, I certainly can't deny that cleansing and reprogramming was nightmarish, but there's still a difference between sadistic tortures disguised as training and coldly efficient repair.

With regards to the flashbacks of Frost, well in canon we don't really get to see what's happening on the mundane side of things, so I decided to put this in an AU, specifically the AU-universe _What Rises Must Set_ from Alternatehistory dot com by theg*ddam*hoi2fan.

Frost and Einzbern…hmm…I borrowed Lannister characterizations to be honest. Wolfram is based on Kevan, a good man serving a bad man like Tywin/Jubstacheit, while Frost is based on Jaime (?). Or more Kevan (good people following a bad leader)…?


	3. Chapter 2

I don't own Fate. Fate is the property of Type-Moon, and no financial gain is made from this or is sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

Frozen Memories

Chapter 2

 _Odessa, the Ukrainian SSR, the Union of Sovereign Socialist Republics_

Frost von Einzbern closed her pocket-watch and slid it back into her pocket. "It's time." She said while stepping out from behind the lamppost. She raised a SIG P2, and pointed it up at the sky while placing a hand on the lamppost. " _Einsetzen…_ " she said, and the bounded field fell into place around the mansion grounds even as she pulled the trigger.

A flare arced high and erupted brightly over the mansion, which was now echoing with startled and panicky voices as they realized that they were under attack. This was the signal for the start of the operation, and Frost dimly heard a pair of 120mm mortars opening fire. The bunker-busters arced overhead, and slammed into the outhouse which housed most of the mercenaries her quarry had hired. The entire upper section was blown apart along with the roof, and survivors began pouring out into the open space behind the mansion.

A third 120mm mortar fired, sending a single white Phosphorus round arcing overhead and right into the middle of the milling mass of mercenaries. Screams could be heard as they burned slowly and painfully to death.

The third mortar round was a signal as much as the earlier flare was. A large multi-wheeled truck parked well away from but in a straight line down the street from the mansion roared to life, and building up speed it charged towards the mansion gates. The two guards opened fire with their AK-74s, but their bullets just bounced off of the truck's armor.

The truck kept on coming, and then banked sharply to one side as it closed. The two guards dove vainly to the sides, only to be crushed against the wall. Both the front wall and the gates alike were torn apart by the truck's armored side as it powered through, and then shaped charges exploded, and the side of the truck fell off.

A trio of homunculi opened fire with M2 Browning heavy machine guns, raking the windows of the mansion with suppressive fire. Mercs went down, while others kept their heads down. With the enemy suppressed, more homunculi jumped from the truck, dressed in camo-pattern fatigues. One of them hefted a Heckler and Koch HK69A1 grenade launcher, and systematically shot grenades into each window.

Screams and explosions followed, and another homunculus knelt while aiming a Panzerfaust 3 at the front door. As the door exploded, homunculi charged forward clutching Heckler and Koch MP5s. They briefly took cover by the ruins of the door, and lobbed DM51s in to cover the assault.

* * *

As a full-fledged firefight broke out inside the house, Frost approached the back wall of the property. She slipped on a glove on one hand, gleaming Orichalcum wires running along the fingers from an ornate Orichalcum mechanism on the back. The rune for Haglaz was engraved on the mechanism in black. " _Abschalten…_ " she cast. " _...Haglaz…!_ "

She made a sweeping gesture, and the wall was blown apart by a silver storm of metal. She stepped over the ruins, and raised an eyebrow. A dark-haired man with Oriental features was standing between her and the mansion, clearly unperturbed by the bloody corpses around him.

"Lao Ren I presume?" she asked. The man – who wore white robes under a blue tabard – nodded before making a sharp gesture at her. Paper birds lanced forward with blinding speed, and Frost barely had the time to bring up her Glock 17 and shoot them down. " _Schattenslag…!_ " she said, and her body dissolved into several streaks of shadow that shot through the air and over the ground.

"I won't let you pass!" Lao Ren shouted as the shadows shot past him, making a sweeping gesture and sending talismans flying from his sleeve. They formed a wall between the house and the shadows, which broke wave-like against them before 'splashing' back and reforming into a person.

Gasping from exertion, Frost pulled Haglaz back, the silver wires lashing out in concentric spirals towards the enemy magus. Lao Ren jumped through the air, agilely spinning and pirouetting through the gaps between the wires. Landing nimbly on his feet, paper twisted together into a bow and arrow in his hands.

The man fired, but Frost was already running, her MP5 rising to open fire on full auto. Again paper formed a wall against which bullets bounced off of, and Frost emptied her entire clip before throwing a grenade at Lao Ren and taking cover inside the outhouse. As the explosion shook the ruined building, Frost reloaded her MP5 before making another run for the house.

Torn paper drifted through the air, and Frost had nearly reached the door when a singed Lao Ren jumped out of the crater, and swinging a paper Dao at her neck. She managed to avoid decapitation, but her MP5 was sliced in half. With a curse Frost discarded the weapon, and jumped back, pulling out her KM2000.

"Westerners…" the Chinese magus sneered as he relentlessly pressed his enemy, Frost barely avoiding getting sliced to ribbons with narrow dodges and parries with her combat knife. "…explosions, bullets, and metal…so crude, all focus on just ending the battle instead of ending it _right_."

"Does it matter?" Frost retorted.

"Only a westerner would ask." Lao Ren said with a smirk. "And yet here I am, just moments from cutting you and that crude instrument of yours down."

Frost cursed, unable to deny her enemy's words. Despite being only made of paper, Lao Ren's Dao was leaving her combat knife in an increasingly-tattered state. Finally it gave way, steel breaking apart against paper, and with savage cry Lao Ren twisted and swung his sword to take her head with a backswing. Unable to properly dodge, Frost took her only option: she dove forward.

To his credit Lao Ren reacted quickly, slashing at her right arm and opening up a clean but bloody gash. Frost sprawled back, her right arm falling beside her…and her left hand came up, pressing her Glock 17 against Lao Ren's chest over his heart. The Chinese magus narrowed his eyes, the tip of his paper Dao held against her neck.

"We die together Mr. Ren." Frost quipped.

"Indeed…" he said with a smile, and doubt flickered in Frost's eyes. And then she pulled the trigger as Lao Ren flicked his wrist.

Bright arterial blood sprayed out, even as Lao Ren staggered back, grimacing in pain and blood pumping from his chest. A metallic sound came from the ground as an armed grenade dropped, Frost spitting out her aria and dissolving into shadow that sped towards the wall.

" _Cao ni ma…!_ " Lao Ren spat as he threw paper daggers against the shadows, barely missing as Frost returned to Human form as she jumped over the wall. At the same time the grenade exploded, the blast wave throwing her forward and down hard on the ground.

She staggered to her feet and ran, Haglaz's silver wires pressing her arm injury closed and sealing her slit arteries. It wasn't a complete solution, but it would have to do until she could get to someplace and to someone who could patch her up. As she approached the intersection, a nondescript Volkswagen T4 halted hard at the corner. The back door opened and Frost jumped in, helped by a homunculus. The van was already on the move even as the door slammed shut behind her.

"Back to base camp." She ordered, as a homunculus began to tend to her injuries. The artificial Human started on her arm, but Frost redirected her to her neck. As she relaxed her wires, more blood fountained out, so much so that she began to feel faint.

The homunculus noted this and gave her a shot. As she felt her strength return and the homunculus continued patching her up, Frost felt and heard a large explosion in the distance. "Cover Protocol has been enacted." The driver – another homunculus – reported.

"Good…" Frost said. "…we're switching to Plan B. Plan A is a bust…at least when it came to our primary objective. The secondary objective of reducing the enemy's total numbers however, is a complete success."

"Should I report that to Herr Wolfram then?" a third homunculus asked, manning a satellite relay. Frost nodded an affirmative, and the homunculus carried it out.

* * *

"…we lost well over half our men, the security deposit for this place…" Hans Schultz ranted as Lao Ren silently stared out of a window at the ruins of the property outside, and where the mercenaries were burning the bodies of the dead homunculi. "…and to top it all of you let Jubstacheit's pet psychopath get away…!"

Lao Ren was on his 'client' in an instant, a vice-like hand holding the gasping alchemist up into the air by the throat. "I did not let them get away." The Chinese magus snarled. "I simply…underestimated that woman, and as a result I was unable to pursue. I certainly did not expect a westerner to use a grenade in such a way to cover her escape…the slightest mistake in timing and she'd have been killed."

Lao Ren dropped Schultz who fell to the ground gasping. "Spirited…" he continued while turning away. "…such a way of doing things is not something a European or even one of the Han would follow. Such a bold disregard for risk…it is more to be expected from Americans or Japanese than Germans."

"That psychopath…" Schultz gasped while getting to his feet. "…she's a Finn…an Edelfelt at least in part…"

"An Edelfelt eh…?" Lao Ren said with a smile. "Then she just became an even more worthy foe. Nevertheless I believe we should expedite our withdrawal. This place is wrecked, and if that woman truly is worthy then she will return with even greater force than before. We cannot hold here."

"So you intend to let her attack us on open ground…?" Schultz echoed angrily. "That's…!"

"It's certainly risky." Lao Ren agreed. "But our chances would be better than here."

Lao Ren paused and then glanced at the spluttering alchemist. "See to it that your men are working." He said. "Do not forget, the Red Dragon might have reached an accommodation with you, but ultimately I am in charge of security during operations. You wouldn't want to…anger the elders now, would you?"

Snarling with anger, Schultz stalked off. As he left the room, he was joined by one of his mercenaries. " _Damn that yellow bastard…_ " the alchemist spat in accented Russian as they walked down the corridor. " _…if it weren't for what the Red Dragon was offering I'd break this contract in a heartbeat._ "

" _Should we kill him then?_ " the bear-like man asked.

" _No…_ " Schultz replied. " _…it's too risky, both because of his abilities and the risk of retribution from the Red Dragon. We've come too far to turn back now. Prepare SABINE for transit. However…_ "

Schultz paused and looked at the mercenary. " _Frost has probably depleted her complement of homunculi._ " He said. " _Find her and kill her like a dog. Oh, and feel free to make use of her 'assets' in whatever way you like beforehand. She is young and it is a shame that she has to die, but if so, then as much 'use' of her should be made._ "

The mercenary smiled with sadistic understanding before nodding and leaving. " _She's just an Edelfelt bastard in the end._ " Schultz thought as he went for a drink. " _Jubstacheit and Wolfram would never tell us how they got their hands on her or which of her parents was the Edelfelt, but I've no doubt that her mother was just a whore. Like mother like daughter in the end if that's the case._ "

* * *

Frost von Einzbern sneezed, and Wolfram looked curiously around the divider. "Hurry if you please _s_ _chätzchen._ " He said. "You know it is cold here in the Ukraine." "Yes uncle." She replied, and the man turned away back behind the divider.

He did have a point: Ukraine was cold even in summer. It would not do for her to come down with a cold, which she was currently in risk of getting.

Both her overcoat and much of her clothes – or that set anyway – had been ruined by all of the blood spilled on it, and right now she was stripped to the waist and cleaning herself up – their 'base camp' was a warehouse outfitted with their equipment and supplies – with a cloth soaked in a water-alcohol mixture. Finishing up – but making sure she was clean – she put on a fresh set of underwear – bra and undershirt alike – followed by a long-sleeved and collared shirt of white which she tucked into her pants. A black neck tie was next, and then a button-down vest of black.

The overcoat could wait.

Emerging from behind the divider, she proceeded to where her uncle was waiting. As she approached, he looked up and walked over to her. Grabbing her collar gently, he examined her neck and nodded with satisfaction. "Please try to be more careful _schätzchen_." He said.

"I will do all I can uncle." She said with a smile. "But this is a most dangerous occupation I must remind you."

"True…" he conceded, but broke off as a wall-mounted intercom rang, and Wolfram walked over to pick it up.

"…what is it?"

* * *

" _Jawohl Herr Wolfram…_ " A homunculus on the roof of the warehouse acknowledged. " _…wir werden die ziele zu beseitigen._ " She put the phone down and gave a nod to her sisters.

One of them raised a pair of binoculars to her eyes, locking her crimson gaze onto a trio of trucks packed full of mercenaries heading down the road to the warehouse block they were hiding in. A series of coordinates slipped past her lips, and one of her sisters adjusted a 120mm mortar accordingly as another loaded it with anti-runway ammunition.

" _Feuer…!_ "

Anti-runway ammunition was meant for use against enemy airfields, as a means of cratering their runways and rendering them useless. That was their primary purpose for which they'd been developed…but that didn't mean that it was the only way that they could be used for.

A crater appeared in the middle of the road with a shower of debris…and the first two trucks promptly wrecked themselves driving into it. The third managed to drive around it, while men began pouring out of the wrecked trucks.

" _Laden sie_ _a_ _nti-personen-r_ _unden..._ " the lead homunculus barked. " _…abfangen mit MILAN._ "

" _Jawohl…!_ "

White Phosphorus rounds were readied, and the first shots were arcing down towards the mass of men rushing for cover as a MILAN anti-tank missile lashed out and destroyed the third truck. Three rounds were launched, and then orders were given for HEAT rounds to be lobbed against the wrecked vehicles in the crater.

" _Ja, ja, guten schuss…_ " the spotter reported. " _…schalt bis infrarot...ziele eliminiert._ "

The lead homunculus nodded, and contacted Wolfram via the intercom. " _Das is richtig Herr Wolfram._ " She said after hearing the reply to her initial report. " _Jawohl, wir wachen…_ "

" _Überlebende entdeckt...die erlaubnis, zu engagieren._ " Another homunculus, this one armed with an Accuracy International AWM, said over the secure line. Several such snipers were positioned across the warehouse block on spread-out rooftops.

" _Gewährt_ _..._ "

Snipers began opening fire on any survivors, while more homunculus kill-teams spread out on the ground to secure the ground directly. Any surviving mercenaries probably wouldn't last until morning without medical help, given all the pounding they'd taken – which in their defense they could not have seen coming – but orders were orders: kill all enemies.

And for Einzbern homunculi, loyalty and obedience were absolute.

* * *

"What's your plan?" Wolfram said, returning to his niece where she was poring over several maps.

"Here…" she said without preamble, tapping her finger on a section of road in the middle of nowhere. "…we'll take them here. They'll probably be moving, so artillery is out of the question. However…"

She paused and took another map – a geological one this time – and used a highlighter to indicate a spot overlooking the road. "This here would be ideal as a missile site." She said. "We've taken out a lot of the target's manpower, but he should still have some left. And while I'd prefer this to be a high-speed raid, I'd also prefer to kill every last one of these _idioten_ , and that Chinese _arschloch_ as well of course."

"A helicopter…?" Wolfram asked with a smile and a raised eyebrow. She nodded and he chuckled.

"We're going to need a helicopter…" she said while getting a satellite photo of a certain motor-pool in Odessa, along with ground-side photos. "…both to insert the missile team, as well as to secure the package. If our information is correct, then SABINE and Schultz will be moving in an armored truck. We'll take it from the air, kill the rest of the enemy, and get out in time for dinner, yes?"

"Sounds risky…" Wolfram said. "…and so very much like you. Very well I approve."

Frost nodded and then looked hesitant. Wolfram tilted his head. "You have something to ask _schätzchen_?" he asked.

"Do we have any additional info on Schultz and to who he sold us out to…?" she asked.

"Hmm…" Wolfram mused aloud. "…well considering how deep you are into this, I might as well tell you. Tell me, what are the results of flaws in our coining process?"

"Easy…" Frost began with a shrug. "…usual flaws in the creation of our homunculi include either sterility as is the case with most 'adult' homunculi, stunted physical growth – as in Illyasviel's case although it also renders her infertile as physically she is what eight (?) – and universally among our homunculi albinism…wait are you saying that Schultz has _perfected_ coining…?"

"I wouldn't call it perfect…" Wolfram said. "…perfection doesn't exist after all, but yes, he's resolved many issues in the coining process. SABINE is by all accounts not an albino, and has the physical form of an adolescent girl, and is as fertile as one. And Schultz apparently intends to sell her and the process which created her to the highest bidder in the supernatural black market."

Wolfram paused and spat in disgust at the direction of a drain, and Frost couldn't help but agree. "Given his destination, I assume that he's going to be holding the sale in the Far East…the Red Dragon?" she asked.

"Who else…?" Wolfram said darkly. "Disbanding the _Tewu_ and the _Kempeitai_ was a horrid decision on the part of the Chinese Union and the Japanese Empire respectively. Both state security services were brutal yes, but they were effective. Once both organizations were gone, all sorts of rats and other trash moved in. You may be an assassin, but at least you have honor. Drug dealers and pimps have none."

"SABINE belongs to our family." Frost said, already working on finalizing her plans, pulling up maps and marking them out. "We'll get her back, along with that _verräter_ Schultz. What of retribution though? Even if Association influence in the Far East is rather…flimsy, surely we and our associates can't just let Oriental trash think that they can do whatever they want simply because they are far from our centers of power."

"Rest assured…" Wolfram told her. "…arrangements have been made with regards to that concern. Right now though, I believe we should focus on the task at hand."

"Yes of course." Frost said, and rubbing her head in embarrassment. "My apologies, it seemed that I'd gotten distracted."

Wolfram nodded his acceptance of her apology, and she returned to her work.

* * *

A/N

Cherry Kariya: well yes, Einzbern is hardly 'good' after all. But brainwashing solves a lot of issues for them: it helps make Frost more loyal (and Wolfram genuinely does care for her despite being one of Jubstacheit's top lieutenants), and removes any need to resolve lingering psychological issues remaining from her days as a Matou. It's not always best to start over with a blank slate…but here it arguably is. TLDR: German efficiency at its finest.

As for this chapter…eh, I've been watching the Expendables and its sequels, so it shows with Einzbern homunculi and Frost going all commando here.


	4. Chapter 3

I don't own Fate. Fate is the property of Type-Moon, and no financial gain is made from this or is sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

Frozen Memories

Chapter 3

The convoy sped down the highway, a sixteen-wheeled truck preceded by a pair of armored, custom jeeps and followed by another three. The highway they were following was approaching the border between the Ukrainian and Russian SSRs, and as they turned a corner the highway began to climb before leveling out as it curved around a forested hill.

A few hundred meters to the left of the convoy and the ground dropped from a cliff. To the right the hillside rose above the highway that had been cut into its flank. Hidden among those trees on the hilltop were a group of Einzbern homunculi, five in total. One operated a satellite uplink, another watched the convoy with a pair of binoculars, and the remaining three manned a trio of MILAN launchers.

" _Ziel gesichtet._ " The spotter reported.

" _Beginnen sie den vorgang._ " The order returned.

" _Jawohl…!_ "

One of the MILAN operators primed her weapon, and aimed it one of the jeeps to the rear of the convoy. Taking the time to properly aim, she pulled the trigger and guided the missile all the way to the target, the jeep literally being blown apart.

 _Not too surprising, considering that the MILAN was meant to take down tanks and not lightly-armored vehicles._

The explosion served as the signal for the next stage of the operation, as an NH90 helicopter roared up from beneath the cliff, closed the distance and pulled in parallel to the convoy. A door opened, and a homunculus opened fire with a Heckler and Koch GMG at the remaining jeep to the rear, while one of the jeeps to the front exploded from a MILAN and the other began to swerve wildly for its life.

No doubt the mercenaries had believed the steel plates they'd welded onto the bodies of the jeeps they were using would be enough protection against mere grenades. And they'd be right. Unfortunately for them, the homunculus wasn't aiming for the jeep itself. She aimed around and in front of it, the explosions wildly knocking the vehicle from side to side until it finally overturned. A single grenade to the unarmored suspension finished it along with all of the mercenaries inside.

"Bring us alongside!" Frost shouted, and the homunculus pilot obeyed. As they came alongside the truck, Frost and another homunculus jumped onto its back. Frost immediately used structural analysis to get a feel for the truck's interior while the homunculus rushed over to the driver's cabin.

She tore the ceiling open as though it were made of tissue paper, and picked up the driver and threw him screaming over the side. As the truck began to swerve out of control, she jumped into the driver's seat, bashed in the face of the mercenary in the front seat, and began to drive.

Frost planted a shaped charge, and then dove over the side – using her knife to hold on to the truck – and then leapt back up as the charge blew the truck open. She threw a flash-bang into the hole, and after a few moments she jumped in. Five mercenaries were reeling on the floor or against the wall, and she quickly dispatched them with her pistol.

A shout caught her attention, and she turned just in time to take a solid right on her chin.

She staggered back a few steps, and Hans Schultz charged in from behind SABINE's capsule, his arm drawn back for another strike. As he threw his punch, Frost caught it and quickly stepped forward, pulling and twisting the man's arm along with her as though ripping a branch from a tree. The alchemist screamed as his shoulder was destroyed, and collapsed to the floor as Frost released his arm.

She wasn't finished though.

Raising a leg, she reinforced it and then brought it down on his thigh. Schultz screamed again as his femur broke, and then fell unconscious from shock. Frost made sure that he was unconscious, and then moved to check up on SABINE. An explosion signaled the destruction of the last jeep…and she heard another pair of feet above her.

 _This is not part of the plan._

She pulled out her MP5 and opened fire of full-auto, perforating the roof above her. A curse in Chinese confirmed her suspicion. She reloaded and got back on the roof, only to find it empty. A flicker of motion caught her attention, and she turned to see Lao Ren leaping up from the side of the truck, and throwing a kick at her. She caught it on an arm, but it still sent her flying off of the vehicle.

" _Abschalten…_ " she shouted as she fell. " _…Haglaz…!_ "

Silver wires sprang out of her mystic code, and looped around trees and branches and allowed her to swing safely out of her fall towards the trees instead. " _Schattenslag…!_ " she cast, dissolving into shadows that streaked towards the cliff.

"You won't escape!" the Chinese magus spat, gesturing and causing several talismans to form a pair of wings on his back, and he flew in pursuit, a paper bow and arrow taking form in his hands.

Frost's shadows streaked towards the cliff, only once reforming back into a Human to let the spell-caster catch her breath – she couldn't breathe while in shadow form – and then she turned back into shadows to continue her escape. Unfortunately, her white hair (partly) caught Lao Ren's attention.

The Chinese magus prepared an arrow, aimed, and fired. It struck one of the shadows, which writhed and splashed back together into Frost who flew uncontrolled through the trees with a cry of pain and blood exploding from a deep thigh wound. "I've got you now!" Lao Ren shouted in triumph as he dove in for the kill.

Frost meanwhile pulled out a handkerchief and made a makeshift tourniquet, finishing just in time to see Lao Ren jumping down on her with a Chinese halberd held point down. She rolled out of the way, and brought her gun to bear. Lao Ren tore it apart with his halberd, and kicked her in the head. As she staggered away, she tossed a flash-bang at him.

"Tricks…?" he spat as he blinked his vision clear and shook his ears clear. Frost had taken the opportunity to continue to run towards the cliff. "You're just delaying the inevitable, westerner."

" _Magi…_ " Frost though contemptuously as she ran through the trees, spying just a short way away the edge. " _…so dependent on magic that it makes them blind to everything else…well it doesn't matter._ "

She ran out of the tree line and slowed, and finally stopped at the edge. She turned as she heard slow footsteps behind her. "End of the line, westerner..." Lao Ren hissed with cruel triumph. "…this will not be swift I promise you."

"No, that it won't." Frost said, and then she smirked as they both heard her helicopter approaching. A door opened, and a homunculus opened fire with an M2 Browning. Lao Ren bunkered down behind his talismans, and giving Frost time to use Haglaz to swing towards and climb up back into the helicopter.

"Game over Chinese bastard…" she sneered as she pulled a detonator from her pocket. "…I win."

She pushed the button, and a hundred kilograms of explosive spread out across the cliff exploded. The cliff literally crumbled, and she spotted Lao Ren desperately trying to fly through the falling debris. "Rifle…!" she barked while hooking a line to her belt.

A homunculus handed her an Accuracy International AWM, and she leaned out of the door and aimed downwards. " _I'd prefer_ _ **my**_ _rifle…_ " she thought. " _…but this will do._ "

She pulled the trigger, the .300 Winchester Magnum blowing the top of Lao Ren's head clean off. "Mission accomplished." She said as she swung back inside the helicopter. "Proceed to the rendezvous point."

* * *

The helicopter landed in a grassy field shrouded from view with several bounded fields. Also on the field was the truck from earlier, as well as other helicopters and a trio of large tents. And Wolfram von Einzbern was there as well, elegant as always in his frock coat. "Uncle…" Frost began to say as she left the helicopter, only to wince at her leg injury.

"You are hurt." He pointed out as she approached.

"I was careless." She said. "It won't happen again."

"Unlikely…" Wolfram disagreed but with only mild reproof. "…as you have said in the past, yours is a most dangerous occupation. Still, I trust you learned something from this experience?"

"Of course…" Frost agreed as she and Wolfram walked towards the medical tent. "…the circumstances leading to my current condition won't be repeated."

"Good, good…" Wolfram said with a nod, and then the two of them paused as homunculi – in traditional wear and with traditional weapons this time – emerged, escorting a healed but chained and collared Hans Schultz. The man glanced hatefully in their direction, and as they passed he spat at Wolfram.

It was too far to actually reach him, but the glob of spit landed a few inches before his feet. The response was immediate: Schultz's escorts immediately beat him into the ground, and Frost was reaching for her pistol, only to remember that it'd been destroyed.

Undeterred, she reached for her MP5, but was halted with a hand and a look from her uncle. The man – trailed by Frost – walked over to where the prisoner lay moaning on the ground. "Mr. Schultz…" Wolfram said coldly while placing a booted foot on his neck. "…do try and refrain from making things for yourself, won't you? We still have much to talk about once we return to Germany, and the resources we spend to keep you alive and well aren't nearly as cheap as you think."

Wolfram walked away, and Frost made to follow only to stop as Schultz addressed her. "Look at you…" he spat. "…so loyal and so devoted to them…"

Frost glanced neutrally over a shoulder, raising a single, white eyebrow at the man on the ground. "If only you knew…" he continued. "…what and who you were…what they did to you…both Einzbern and…!"

He didn't get to finish as with a roll of her eyes she coolly drew her MP5, switched to semi-auto with a flick of her thumb, and put a single round into the man's groin. His screams sharply pierced the air, and she coolly returned her uncle's questioning expression as she caught up to him.

"I didn't kill him." She said laconically, and the man chuckled.

"No, you did not." He said, and they entered the tent where other homunculi and alchemists were working on SABINE's tank. "How is she?"

"She's in perfect condition and hibernation." One of the alchemists reported.

"Truly a marvelous work, isn't she?" Wolfram asked in awe, and Frost nodded her agreement. She may be just a spell-caster, but even then she still held an appreciation for fine art, which SABINE represented by her very existence.

"Will she be dissected?" she asked worriedly, and Wolfram shook his head.

"Goodness, no…" he replied. "…that would be wasteful in the extreme. Any analysis of her will be done by non-invasive means, and she'll be treated as a ward of the family. In the long-term that would be more useful to us as a means of finding out the mysteries that led to her existence."

"Schultz's notes in the truck should also be useful in that regard." Frost remarked.

"Agreed…" Wolfram said. "…he truly was a brilliant man. It's a pity that he turned out this way."

"May I watch the interrogation?"

"Personally I would say yes…" Wolfram said but with an air of apology. "…but most likely the others will say no. He will most likely be divulging key secrets, and while I do trust you, the others can be…"

He trailed off, but Frost nodded her understanding. "I understand uncle." She said. "I would not wish to put you in a compromising position."

"I thank you for that…" he said with a smile, and then glanced pointedly at her bandaged thigh wound. "…now why don't you go and have that patched up while we finish departure preparations?"

Frost nodded and left, leaving Wolfram alone with Sabine. The man sighed after a moment. "My dear Frost…" he said sadly. "…I am sorry for all the secrets that are kept from you."

" _There is nothing to forgive._ " Frost thought as she barely heard the man as she walked away from the tent, her interest sparked by the mention of her name. " _Family is everything after all._ "

* * *

"Frost…!" Frühling, Herbst, and Illyasviel threw themselves at the surprised Frost as she walked down a corridor in Castle von Einzbern the noon of the following day. "Why didn't you tell us that you were back?"

Frost's response was to reach up and pinch Illya's cheeks playfully. "And who told you three that you could just push me to the ground?" she asked faux-angrily.

"S-s-sorry…" Illya said and Frost smiled while the three children – Illya was (physically at least) eight, while both Frühling and Herbst were ten – got off of her. The older girl (technically Illya was older than her but it didn't show) got up, and dusted her clothes clean.

"I hate dresses I really do." She complained. The three children giggled at her complaints: Frost had been told to appear 'proper' inside the castle, and while she'd done as instructed, that hadn't stopped her from complaining about it whenever she could get away with it.

She glanced at them and smiled. "Alright…" she said while herding them along. "…you can come with me, but you have to stay quiet. You cannot speak unless addressed or without permission in the Great Hall, alright?"

The three of them nodded, and a few minutes later Frost herded the three of them through a side door into the Great Hall, and then towards the aisle. A few of the older magi looked at her with veiled disdain, but for the most part they just ignored her. Many of the younger ones though, gave her cautious nods of welcome.

She was still an Einzbern by name after all, and one made in the image of the late Magus Killer. Only unlike him, she would fulfill her duty without question, unlike Emiya who had betrayed them for some nonsensical reason despite being given so much by the family.

 _The final test of her loyalty had yet to come, but she'd no intention of failing it._

The three children and their minder looked on as the chained and collared Hans Schultz was brought before Jubstacheit von Einzbern and other family leaders on a raised, wide dais at the far end of the hall. "Hans Schultz…" Jubstacheit said. "…I must commend you on your audacity and sheer nerve. Not only did you depart the castle without our leave, you also absconded with family property."

"Property…?" the man echoed and then sneered. Murmurs echoed across the hall in disbelief at his arrogance. "Human beings – even homunculi – cannot and should not be treated as mere property! Such backward thinking is why…!"

"Enough...!" Jubstacheit cut him off. "You were not brought here so you could insult the family with your drivel. You were brought here so that justice might be served to the family that you so dishonored."

"Dishonor…?" the man echoed again. "There is no dishonor when there is no honor to begin with!"

" _Brass ones…_ " Frost thought. " _...but as much as I acknowledge such insane bravado, you should just shut up. This really isn't helping your case. Nothing will to be honest, but still…_ "

" **Silence…!** " Jubstacheit shouted, quieting both his relatives and the prisoner. "Hans Schultz…you will be interrogated, and every last secret of yours will be forced from you, along with everything that you have kept from the family that should not have been. Only then will death come for you. It will not be easy, but you can make it easier for you, so I urge you now to cooperate with our questioning."

"Kill me then if it pleases you…" Schultz spat. "…death is nothing compared to vindication! Mark my words! The day will come when you and the rest of the magi will pay for their arrogance…!"

As he was dragged from the hall, Schultz caught sight of Frost. Struggling against his captors, he sneered mockingly at her. "Come to watch my so-called judgment, ignorant little puppet?" he asked. "I wonder what you'll do, when the strings are cut and you learn the truth."

Frost returned his look impassively, and Schultz sneered as he was dragged away. "You'll see!" he shouted. "You'll all see!"

The children (except for Illya who did have a streak of sadism in her) flinched at the malice in the man's tone, and sensing this Frost proceeded to herd them out of the Great Hall back the way they came in. "Frost…" Frühling and Herbst began as soon as they'd left, but she shushed them.

"Where are we going?" Illya asked as Frost took the three of them and proceeded into an unfamiliar part of the castle.

"Oh…?" Frost asked. "You've never been here before?"

"No."

Frost chuckled, and stopped before a large door through which delicious smells could be smelled wafting through. The children's eyes widened. "Yes…" Frost said. "…these are the kitchens. And from some gossip that I heard earlier, it seems that they were preparing some apple pie."

"Apple pie…?" the three children said with stars in their eyes.

"That's right." Frost said, all the while opening the door and herding them through. "Now as a reward for keeping quiet inside the Great Hall despite such disgraceful behavior from that terrible man, I'll let you all have a slice each."

"Alright…!"

* * *

Jubstacheit watched through an observation sphere as Frost had the kitchen staff provide a slice of pie each to the children that Frost was currently overseeing. Other family leaders were less than charitable in their opinions however.

"That damn waif…" _Generalinspekteur_ Gunther von Einzbern said. "…who does she think she is, to give out rewards like that?"

"Well…" _Stabschef_ Wolfram von Einzbern said. "…right now she's with my granddaughters. And Frühling and Herbst were quite behaved today while in the Great Hall. A reward is not undeserving, and as an elder family member – even if only one in name – she has the right to administer reward and punishment to younger peers within reason."

"Your compassion for her is your undoing Wolfram." Gunther replied. "She is a tool, nothing more."

"And if she completes the task for which we took her in, what then?" Wolfram asked back. "I told you before: positive reinforcement – properly tempered of course – is far more useful when it comes to building loyalty than any other method."

"Wolfram is right." _Stellvertretender Familienoberhaupt_ Bernhardt von Einzbern said. "Right now we have her loyalty, and she never actually steps out of line. Even now, she is well within the bounds of propriety."

"And what of Illyasviel…?"

"I see nothing wrong with Illyasviel here." _Achte Familienoberhaupt_ Jubstacheit von Einzbern remarked. "She's done well with her training so far, and as Wolfram said, positive reinforcement is one of the best ways to reinforce loyalty. And she has nothing scheduled for the rest of the day either. Let Frost take care of her for now."

"But…"

"And in any case Inspector-General…" Jubstacheit pointed out while sitting back on his chair. "…don't you have an interrogation to oversee?"

Gunther opened his mouth and then closed it immediately, and Jubstacheit watched with a certain degree of veiled amusement. "I understand my lord…" he finally said. "…I will go and personally oversee Hans Schultz's…interrogation."

"Please try not to go too far this time Gunther…" Bernhardt said with a grimace. "…we'd like the man intact and rational for a proper execution when the time comes."

Gunther gave a curt nod, and then he left. Bernhardt waited until the man had closed the door behind him, and then he sighed. "That man can be a headache." He said, and both Wolfram and Jubstacheit chuckled.

"Do we have any other options for the post of Inspector-General?" Wolfram asked.

"None that I know of…"

"In that case we'll just have to make do with Gunther until someone else comes along." Wolfram pointed out, and the other two men nodded their agreement. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I shall go and join my granddaughters."

* * *

A/N

Please do not review if you're just going to ask me to update my other fics. Review only if you're actually going to review.

Now seriously: how was this chapter? In about two or three chapters the Fifth Holy Grail War will begin, and I'd like to get as much input right now before I get to the war proper.


	5. Chapter 4

I don't own Fate. Fate is the property of Type-Moon, and no financial gain is made from this or is sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

Frozen Memories

Chapter 4

A young woman stood near a side entrance of the castle grounds, swathed in a cloak of black trimmed in white fur. Snow crunched underfoot as Wolfram von Einzbern approached, and Frost's hands rose from under her cloak to pull back her hood, briefly exposing the white dress she wore underneath. "Are you worried about Illyasviel?" he asked.

"Of course I am...!" she replied shortly.

"You could have said something earlier then." Wolfram remarked, and Frost snorted.

"I could have, but it is not my place to question Lord Acht's orders to others or to offer unsolicited opinion on such orders." she admitted. "But even if I have to accept it, it doesn't mean that I have to like it. It's too risky, for Illya on a personal note, and from a purely objective standpoint it risks us losing our ticket into the war."

"It sounds as if you don't have faith in Illyasviel."

"Please don't put words in my mouth uncle." She said with a faint smile, and the older man chuckled and nodded. "I do have faith in her, it's just that this method places too much risk on her part. Illya is and will always be my first and oldest friend. And I owe her a great deal, which…which I will never be able to repay in full."

 _She gave me my name. She gave 'recognition' to me._

"She'll be fine." Wolfram reassured Frost, who had fallen silent. "After all the preparations that have been made, she cannot fail now."

"No…" Frost agreed. "…she cannot."

"Your hair dye's starting to wash away." Wolfram commented, changing the topic, and causing Frost to take one of her locks and to regard it closely. Sure enough, the black had receded considerably, and the white – which she tried to keep to the upper part of her hair – had spread downwards. She shrugged as she tucked her hair back and raised her hood again.

"It's troublesome to get hair wet in winter." She said by way of explanation. "I'll dye it when we get to Japan."

"In other words where there's modern hair drying technology available, you mean." Wolfram responded wryly, and after a moment the two of them started laughing. The laughter swiftly came to an end as lumbering footsteps could be heard, and a shadow loomed through the fog.

"She did it." Frost said triumphantly, and smirked as a swarthy giant carrying a stone axe emerged through the fog, Illyasviel seated on his shoulder with blood splattered all over her dress. That brought Frost up in surprise and worry.

"Blood…?" She began with evident concern, and pulling her hood back. "Illya, are you alright?"

"Hmm…?" the girl in question said as her Servant lowered her to the ground with surprising gentleness. "Oh you mean these…? Don't worry it's not mine. Berserker killed so many wolves that their blood got to me. Thanks for worrying though, Frost."

 _What went unmentioned but was clearly obvious was that the wolves were close enough to splatter her with their death throes._

Frost sighed in relief regardless, and then nodded. "Alright then…" she said with evident relief, kneeling down and wiping a few bits of blood from Illya's face. "…I'm just glad that you're safe."

Illya chuckled, and pinched Frost's cheek. "You worry too much." She said, and Frost chuckled before patting her on the head and guiding her back inside. Behind them Berserker shifted into astral form.

"Would you like it if I didn't care?" Frost asked, and Illya shook her head. "There you go…now then, let's go back inside before any of us catch a cold. That goes for you too, uncle."

"Don't treat me like an old man." He said with a bit of heat, though he did join in with the laughter afterwards. "If you'll take my advice Illyasviel, you should take a hot bath. That should warm you up, and get rid of any smell of blood. Frost while she's doing that…"

"I know." She said. "I should have that dress disposed of. The blood's dried up, and that means it's totally ruined."

"It's no problem I have a lot of dresses anyway." Illya said with a shrug as the three of them entered the castle.

"Hmm…so you do…" Wolfram said with a nod. "…Frost, get her something to eat as well, something hot. Now off you go, while I have to go and inform Jubstacheit about your success. Well done Illyasviel."

Illya gave a curtsy, and Wolfram smiled and ruffled her hair before setting of to Jubstacheit's chambers. Frost meanwhile took Illya by the shoulder and resumed walking with her back to her rooms. "Come on…" she said. "…let's not dawdle. It's warmer here than outside, but it's still quite cold."

"Alright, alright…" Illya huffed childishly, shaking her shoulder free. "…no need to be so pushy. But like I said earlier, thanks for worrying."

* * *

"Oh that's just great."

Frost was standing in Jubstacheit's private study a few days later, along with the man himself, Inspector-General Gunther, Chief of Staff Wolfram, and Deputy Family Head Bernhardt. Gunther bristled at her comment, only to subside at a warning glance from Bernhardt. Gunther, Jubstacheit, Bernhardt were all in traditional white robes with elaborate gold embroidery, while Wolfram was once again wearing a dark-colored frock coat.

Frost wore a simple white dress as was her usual attire, with flourished diagonals embroidered in silver along the hem, the collar, and her cuffs. Jubstacheit raised an eyebrow. "Is there a problem, Frost?" he asked neutrally.

"No artillery, no heavy rocketry, and no gunship assaults…" she grumbled in response. "…in other words I just got my feet cut out from under me."

Gunther snorted, only this time with a faint note of sympathy. "She's got a point there, Acht." The Inspector-General said. "She's about as effective as that traitor Kiritsugu, but unlike him she prefers a more direct approach."

"Is that approval I hear in your voice, Gunther?" Wolfram asked shrewdly.

The man looked positively dyspeptic, but nodded regardless. "Yes…" he said sourly. "…force – sheer, overwhelming force – is always capable of obtaining results. The question is how to apply it, and it seems that Frost and I share an answer."

Gunther was arrogant and brutal, but he was an honest man, even if it meant admitting that he approved of the methods of someone who he could not approve of. Bernhardt and Frost all but gaped at him, although they quickly looked away as the man shot a glare at the two of them. Jubstacheit and Wolfram traded glances, and the former gave a chuckle.

"In that case Frost…" Jubstacheit said. "…consider this as an exercise in an entirely new direction for you."

"Subtlety has its uses." Wolfram continued. "And it doesn't mean that force cannot be applied, even with your preferred tactics and methodology. You just have to do it in a less conspicuous way."

"You have carried out assassinations before, yes?" Jubstacheit carried on. "The guidelines enforced by the Church are similar to such operations."

"Maybe I should just bomb Kotomine Church and be done with them." She said darkly, and Jubstacheit, Bernhardt, and Wolfram all looked perturbed while Gunther gave a barking laugh.

"Tempting isn't it?" he asked while eyeing the young girl.

"Can't I?" she asked the other leaders, and Bernhardt shook his head.

"No, the repercussions of such an act would simply put be catastrophic." He said. "The resulting diplomatic fiasco between the Mages Association and the Holy Church would be of such a scale that the Association would heavily sanction us at best, or at worst leave us to the mercy of the Church."

"And while I'm certain that you have a good chance of avoiding blame for yourself and the rest of the family…" Wolfram said. "…it's still too risky, especially if you win the war. You after all have a reputation as an eventual successor to the darkly-famed Magus Killer, including his preference for unorthodox weapons and methods. I would rather not have to see you as a matter of contention."

There were several moments of silence after that, as the leaders eyed Wolfram and Frost carefully. Eventually Jubstacheit broke the silence. "I trust you have been reviewing our information on potential threats…?" he asked.

"Makiri and Tohsaka are unimaginative." Frost said dismissively. "I – or rather we – do not have access to Kiritsugu Emiya's lethal conceptual weapon the Origin Bullet, but we have conceptual weapons of our own. In that light I request permission to have access to the repository."

"Granted…" Jubstacheit said. "…you will have access rights up to Level Four."

"I am grateful." She said with a bow.

"How do you intend to deal with either Makiri or Tohsaka?" Gunther asked.

"Tohsaka is easy." Frost said. "Standard anti-infantry tactics should be sufficient, though it would of course depend on the circumstances at hand. Makiri is a bit more difficult, given their preference for swarm tactics, but in that case either White Phosphorus or a conceptual weapon will tip the scales in our favor."

"And Emiya…?" Jubstacheit asked.

Frost was silent for a long moment, and then she briefly closed her eyes. "Illyasviel requests that his fate be deferred to her." She finally said. "Apart from that, she agrees with our strategy: to allow me to fulfill a similar role to her as Kiritsugu Emiya did for Irisviel von Einzbern."

 _Only this time, she really will be the Master._

"The request is not inappropriate." Bernhardt said. "They are step-siblings after all, and given part of her indoctrination involved the idea that Shirou Emiya was a replacement for her, it is understandable that she wishes to deal with the matter personally."

"If he becomes a vassal for our family…" Wolfram mused aloud. "…will he be useful?"

"Does it matter so long as we win the contest?" Gunther said dismissively before glaring at Frost. "Long story short Frost: do what you have to do to win, even if it means letting Illyasviel turn the Emiya boy into a toy. Keep it low-key to avoid the Church's attention, but **WIN**."

"Gunther could have said it more diplomatically…" Bernhardt said. "…but he is essentially correct."

"Don't take any unnecessary risks." Wolfram said. "There's not much point in winning if you don't get to enjoy it afterwards."

 _In other words: win, but don't get yourself killed or hurt in a way that you can't come home afterwards._

"We are taking a huge risk with you, Frost." Jubstacheit finally said. "As the custodian of the Lesser Grail, you will be the one being gifted with the chance to drink from the Cup of Heaven in the event of victory. I trust you will not shame us as Kiritsugu Emiya once did."

Frost's eyes flashed briefly, and her expression turned stern. She bowed. "My name is Frost von Einzbern." She said neutrally as she raised her head. "I have no reason to betray my family. They are all I have. I shall return, and with victory in hand."

Jubstacheit smirked. "We shall see." He said.

* * *

"Did you hear the rumors?" Johann von Einzbern asked as they walked down the corridor, the white-robed magus carrying Frost's things for her.

"No…" she said with a hint of curiosity. "…what are they saying?"

"The word is that the 'tiger cubs' will be sent to face dragons." Johann replied with a wink.

"Rumors, is it…?" Frost echoed thoughtfully. "Well it's a bit exaggerated, but it's not entirely untruthful either."

"Seriously…?" the young man said.

"Well…" Frost said. "…according to our information the Tohsaka magus is a little girl, and while Zouken Makiri is old – older magi are usually more powerful – his soul shouldn't really be in a very good state right now. I might not be as experienced as old Kiritsugu Emiya was, but I'm certain that I'm more than capable of dealing with a little girl and a rotting corpse."

"But there should be – and will be – more Masters than those two, won't there be?"

"Yeah…" Frost agreed with a nod. "…and I'm guessing those will be the 'dragons' that the 'tiger cubs' – no doubt referring to Illya and me – will be facing. The Association representative, and three extra Masters…we're going to be stuck on our toes."

"Well the Magus Killer was always supposed to be almost always outclassed by his opponents…" Johann remarked. "…but he always came out on top. And you have more resources than he did, even if the setting of the contest will probably limit your options somewhat. Anyway enough about that: are you free tonight?"

"Sorry Johann…" Frost apologized, coming to a halt before her suite's doors. "…but there's only a couple of months or so left before the contest begins, and between my other responsibilities and preparing for the contest, I don't really have that much free time anymore."

"I'm guessing that's what all these papers are for." Johann said, eyeing the stack of folders he was holding. Frost grimaced and nodded, and then she took the folders. "Frost, I don't envy you. Anyway, another time then…"

"That's fine…" she said while clumsily tucking the stack under an arm. "…I'll make it up to you one way or another. I might have a free evening a few days or a week from now, so maybe then. Thanks for carrying my things for me."

"No problem…" he said with a nod before going off further down the corridor. "…see you later Frost."

"Bye." She said with a small wave before entering her suite and closing the door behind her. She walked over and placed the files on a table, and wiped at her forehead.

" _Even if I'm just a spell-caster…_ " she thought sourly. " _…I still have to keep up with my education on both sides of the line. With all my jobs, I hardly had any time to do that though. I'm going to be so busy catching up for the next few days._ "

There was a knock at the door, and Frost gave permission to enter. A homunculus maid walked in and gave a bow. "What is it?" she asked, opening the top folder and running a brief look over the overview.

 _Poetry interpretation…oh joy…_

"I have a message to be relayed to you from our informers at the Clock Tower." She said. 'It seems that at least two Association magi have openly revealed their command spells. The information has been confirmed."

"Only one of them will be the Association representative." Frost said while closing the folder and placing it back on the pile before stretching her limbs. "However they both probably will participate in the contest. Who might they be?"

"Bazett Fraga McRemitz…" the homunculus began.

"Never heard of her…" Frost interrupted, taking the next folder and reading the overview. Intermediate geometry: now there was something more to her liking. "…I'll need to know more about her though, just in case. Knowing is half the battle after all."

"So noted…" the homunculus said with another bow. "…the other one is Luviagelita Edelfelt."

"Oh that's just damn great…" Frost said, her mood turning black in an instant. "…someone competent and more importantly someone I consider a friend. That's just great."

"So noted…should I obtain intelligence on her as well?"

"Yes, yes, you should…" Frost replied while making dismissive gestures. The homunculus bowed and left, leaving Frost alone to look blackly out of her windows at the snow falling outside.

 _Damn it all…of all people why the hell do I have to fight Luvia? I don't want to fight my friends, damn it!_

* * *

"Frost's been really busy for two days now." Herbst said, having tea with her sister and with Illya. "She hasn't come to play or visit."

"Well, she's coming with me to Japan for the contest…" Illya said while taking a sip of her tea. "…between preparing for that and catching up with schoolwork, it's to be expected."

"Even so…" Herbst said, and Frühling gave a nod.

"She should have a break every now and then…" the ten year-old girl said. "…and come and visit us!"

Illya laughed a bit weakly at that. Despite her underdeveloped body, which did have an effect on the way she thought about things, she was still nineteen years-old. She also had access to the memories of her ancestor, Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern, though the connection was hazy and Illya had been warned against going too deep into her memories, lest her personality be subsumed or worse be fragmented in the process.

"I'm…sure she has her reasons." She finished weakly, and the other girls frowned.

"Humph…" Frühling said while crossing her arms. "…we better get souvenirs when you two come back, along with the first prize in the contest for the family!"

Illya froze for the briefest moment, which thankfully went unnoticed by her friends. The same went for her expression of sadness and regret. " _I won't be coming back…_ " she thought sadly, watching as her cousins fought against each other. Herbst was trying to scold her twin for being so forward, while Frühling was stubbornly holding her ground. " _…for Einzbern's victory, and for Frost's wish, I will…_ "

She didn't finish the thought, afraid of the resulting reaction coming to Herbst and Frühling's attention. Thankfully distractions appeared in the form of her other cousins' arrival. As the ten year old girls began to argue about not being invited to a tea party, Illya allowed herself a moment to pull herself back together.

 _I won't be coming back, so let me enjoy this, and make some good memories while it lasts._

* * *

Two months would pass quickly, and would see Frost and Illyasviel von Einzbern standing in the terminal of Frankfurt Airport. Sella and Leysritt along with most of their belongings had gone on ahead, to prepare the Einzbern castle in Fuyuki City for their arrival. "Time does fly, doesn't it?" Frost wondered aloud while tugging on her necktie, once again in mundane business attire, her overcoat draped over an arm.

"It barely seems like yesterday that I summoned Berserker too." Illya agreed. "In a day or so, we'll be in Japan."

"The contest doesn't necessarily have to begin as soon as we arrive though." Frost pointed out, and Illya shrugged.

"Even so…" she said. "…we shouldn't get sloppy. We're putting everything on the line here, so work hard Frost."

Frost smiled and threw a mock salute. " _Jawohl, mein Frau._ " She said, and Illya pouted and flushed with mock outrage.

"You're not taking me seriously are you?" she asked.

"Would I do that?" Frost asked back, and Illya huffed while crossing her arms and looking away.

"Yes." She answered, and Frost chuckled and placed a hand on Illya's shoulder.

"Sorry…" she said, and then her smile vanished as Illya turned back to her with a sad yet serious expression. "…Illya, what's wrong?"

"Don't die." Illya said. "Everything is for you, and for onii-chan. So, don't die Frost."

Frost's face turned sad, and she caressed Illya's face softly. "I wish…" she whispered. "…things could be different."

Illya smiled sadly, and shook her head while taking Frost's hand. "Don't be like that." She admonished softly. "Step forward, Frost. You have your whole life ahead of you. Become everything and everyone you want to be. The same for onii-chan…wish for something useful…"

Frost smiled just as sadly and nodded, and Illya turned towards the counter as their plane opened for boarding. "Now…" she said while taking the lead, Frost following in her wake. "…let's go…to Fuyuki…"

* * *

A/N

Frost's hair is completely white. She dyes about the lower half black, and leaves the upper half white. She stops maintenance during winter – it's cold in the castle, and unlike Kiri she doesn't insist on modern conveniences so she doesn't wet her head any more than is necessary in winter – so usually by springtime her hair is totally white (like Illya). Winter's not over yet though, so when she gets to Fuyuki her hair is largely white with black streaks towards the bottom.

Johann and Frost are friends, nothing more.


	6. Chapter 5

I don't own Fate. Fate is the property of Type-Moon, and no financial gain is made from this or is sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

Frozen Memories

Chapter 5

"Let silver and steel be the essence. Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation. Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall. Let the four cardinal gates close. Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate."

A girl in a red, long-sleeved shirt and a black mini-skirt stood in the middle of a magic circle glowing red, an open book in one hand, while the other held out a jeweled pendant before her. Her eyes were closed, and her dark, pigtailed hair gently fluttered in an ethereal breeze.

"Let it be declared now: your flesh shall serve under me, and my fate shall be with your sword. Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail. Answer if you would submit to this will and this truth. An oath shall be sworn here. I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven; I shall have dominion over all evils of hell. From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power…"

Rin Tohsaka paused briefly, and in that moment a single drop of blood fell from her outstretched hand and struck the ground. The magic circle flashed in resonance, rising up and rotating around her as the summoning ritual moved to its conclusion. Her eyes flashed open.

"…come forth from the ring of restraint, protector of the holy balance!" she shouted, and crimson light flared brightly, even to shine out through the Tohsaka mansion's windows.

" _There's no doubt about it._ " Rin Tohsaka thought to herself with smug satisfaction. " _I've drawn the best card._ "

That sense of satisfaction quickly winked out as an explosion shook the mansion, and threw her to the floor. Her magic circle also faded away. "W-what…?" she asked, and sensed another presence in her home.

 _Could it be?_

Rin immediately got to her feet and ran from her workshop to the stairs, and thence to the upper floors. The door to the attic was stuck, and it took more than a few shoves before she could get it open.

 _This…is not what I expected._

A man with white hair and tanned skin slouched on a 'throne' of rubble, black metal armor and red cloth covered in dust. "Really now…" he said as he smiled smugly at her. "…what a Master I have."

* * *

 _Everything burned. The city burned. People burned. The boy kept walking. The boy walked through the flames and the ruins, ignoring the pleas for help all around him. The boy knew that he wasn't the only living person there. But the boy kept walking. The boy walked past them._

 _The boy wasn't in a daze. The boy wasn't driven by a primal instinct of survival. It hurt. Skin turned red and cloth blackened as flames burned around him. The boy's chest hurt as smoke and soot filtered into his lungs. But the boy could think. The boy knew quite well what he was doing. The boy ignored the pleas for help and kept on walking._

 _The boy didn't know who he was. The boy didn't know where he came from. The boy didn't know why he was there. The boy couldn't find the answers, his very existence being remade in fire and death even as he went on his way._

 _All the boy knew was that he had to survive. The boy would survive, and live to see another day, while everyone else around him died. The boy would pass through fire and death, while others did not. The boy was a sinner, and that truth would etch itself indelibly on his soul._

 _The boy kept on walking._

 _As night gave way to morning, the flames died down, and rain fell as though the very sky itself wept for all those that had died in the night. Smoke and steam rose from the hissing ruins, as though mocking the sky's empty grief._

 _The pain was gone._

 _The boy was alive. The boy lived to see another day. The will to live had borne fruit, and that was enough. The boy finally allowed himself to fall to the ground._

 _The boy had come this far. It was enough. So many people had been left behind to die, just for this brief moment of triumph. Now…it was his turn…to sleep…_

 _Darkness fell across his eyes._

 _Footsteps approached slowly and heavily, breaking the deathly solitude of rain and smoke._

 _He opened his eyes._

 _A dark-haired man with empty eyes and a weary face looked down on him. But what struck him was the man's expression. It was full of joy, so much so that the boy wondered if the man was happy not because he had saved someone, but because he himself had been saved._

 _The boy felt something. Warmth spread throughout his cold body, and the man picked him up and held him close._

 _Darkness fell across his eyes once again._

 _And then…there, just beyond his reach, just beyond tangibility…he could see it…a golden outline…a sword…_

 _"Shirou…Shirou…Shirou…"_

* * *

Shirou Emiya opened his eyes, and Ayako Mitsuzuri sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Falling asleep in the outhouse again…" she said exasperatedly. "…Fujimura-sensei's going to give you grief for this, you know that right?"

"Only if she finds out…" Shirou pointed out, getting to his feet and dusting himself off.

"In other words, cover for you, isn't that right?" she said with a smile. "Sure why not…? There's not much point in crying over spilled milk anyway."

"Thanks Ayako." He said with a smile, and Ayako laughed as they left the outhouse – Shirou's workshop actually (though he was probably the only magus in the world who let just about anyone in) – together.

"Still…" she pointed out as they entered the Emiya residence. "…you should go and freshen up before Fujimura-sensei arrives. Even if I don't say anything, if you come to the breakfast table looking like that, then there's no covering for you."

"That's true." Shirou said while looking himself over. "Okay, I'll go and take a shower then. Sorry for not being able to help out with breakfast."

"You just owe me…" Ayako said while waving him off. "…come to think of it, how many favors do you owe me so far?"

Shirou nervously laughed it off – he wasn't certain how serious she was about how many favors he owed her – and went to the bathroom while Ayako busied herself in the kitchen. Shirou and Ayako weren't exactly boyfriend and girlfriend, but they were certainly closer than just friends. It had all started out a few years back when he'd fallen ill, and Taiga Fujimura had 'recruited' Ayako to help out while he recovered.

It wasn't that he had no other friends to help him out, it was just that Taiga hadn't felt right about having a male friend doing so for him (apparently she didn't want any misunderstandings about his preferences to start going around). Among his closer friends Shirou knew that it was unlikely that rich playboy Shinji Matou would have set off the rumor mill (not that his entitled 'friend' would lower himself to hard physical work which was always a point of contention between them) but Ryuudo Issei on the other hand…

Shirou felt a dismayed expression appear on his face as he began to shower down. He didn't think Issei was gay, but…

 _Okay, that's a thought best left alone._

He only had one female friend, Ayako, which left her as Taiga's only option. Among other things she had been forced to learn how to cook, which had been something of a challenge for her. He'd helped her out as best he could at the time, and ultimately she'd decided to keep on 'helping him out' even after he'd recovered.

 _That one had thankfully not started any rumors, but that hadn't stopped Fuji-nee from trying to set us up together._

As he finished freshening up, he heard someone enter the house loudly and exuberantly. " _Speaking of which…_ " he thought wryly as he put on fresh clothes.

"Shirou…" Taiga Fujimura – his homeroom teacher and legal guardian – complained as he entered the dining room a few minutes later. "…what took you so long?"

"Sorry Fuji-nee…" he said while taking his seat and handing his bowl to Ayako. "…I was taking a shower."

"It wouldn't have taken that long if you'd woken up earlier." Taiga countered before turning to Ayako. "Isn't that right, Ayako-san?"

"It's no trouble at all." She replied while winking at Shirou. "He just owes me another favor, isn't that right Shirou?"

"Yes, yes…" he said before settling down for breakfast.

* * *

Frost von Einzbern stood in the cemetery, waiting for her cousin to finish speaking with the priest doubling as the Overseer of the Holy Grail War. Truth be told, she didn't like the place. Something about Kotomine Church felt _wrong_ and while she rationalized it as a side-effect of being one of two places in the city where the Cup of Heaven could be actualized, something else warned her that that was not the case at all.

 _I'd better keep an eye on this place and on that priest as well just in case._

"Frost…!" Illya shouted, entering the cemetery and running over to her. "What are you doing? Let's go, we're done here."

Frost wordlessly held out the bouquet of chrysanthemums she held in one hand. Illya blinked in surprise as she took it, and then glanced at the nearest tombstone. Her eyes widened, and then narrowed in fury.

"What's the meaning of this?" she ground out. "Are you…you dare…"

"Do you hate him?" Frost asked instead.

"Of course I hate him!" Illya shouted, throwing the bouquet down on the ground. "Why shouldn't I? He never came back…he replaced me with that boy! Shirou…!"

"Yes, yes he did." Frost said, picking the bouquet up and placing it before Kiritsugu's tombstone herself. "By all rights you should hate him for that."

 _Assuming that is indeed the truth. I love our family, but even I have to admit that we are a heartless and vindictive lot. There's more to Kiritsugu's treachery than meets the eye, I suspect._

"So why…?"

Frost turned to her, kneeling as she did so. "Because he was different once..." She said with a sad smile, caressing Illya's face with a hand. "…he loved you once, along with your mother…"

"How would you know?" Illya said with a sneer, slapping away Frost's hand. The younger girl shrugged.

"I don't." she admitted as she stood up. "But you do, don't you? And don't lie. I know when people lie. He loved you once, and you know it. And that's why it hurts so much."

Illya looked away, her teeth grinding against each other and her face twisted with anger, but she couldn't deny it. She knew that her father had loved her once. It was just as Frost said: that was why it hurt so much, to know, _to fear_ , that she'd been abandoned for another, because it would mean losing something that meant so much to her that she couldn't put it into words. "Why?" she finally whispered.

"Times change…" Frost replied, divining Illya's meaning at once. "…things change…people change…change is the only constant of chaotic time."

"So I'm simply supposed to forgive him, is that it?" Illya challenged, and Frost looked at her.

"That's up to you." she said, and Illya blinked in surprise. "If you wish to hate him, then by all means do so. But I would also ask you to remember how he once was, what he once was, the Kiritsugu Emiya you knew and loved as a father. The man you remember and the man you hate are two entirely different people, I am sure of it."

"Can people even change so much that they become entirely different people?" Illya whispered savagely, her voice distracted and her eyes torn with different emotions as she stared at her father's tombstone.

"You're asking me…?" Frost asked back with a bemused tone. "If I ever met who I once was before I became an Einzbern, or who she would have become, I doubt I would even recognize her despite her being me."

Illya chuckled and nodded. "True…" she said, finally kneeling down and placing a hand on her father's tombstone. "…the war…mama's death…it…changed him completely…"

She paused, and stared at her cousin. There was a question in her crimson eyes. "You won't be like him, won't you?" she asked as she stood.

"When have I ever lied?" Frost said with a small bow. "And I have said that I would return with victory in hand."

Illya smiled and nodded, and with a final, sorrowful glance at Kiritsugu's grave, led the way out of the cemetery. "In that case…" she said. "..I'll believe in you as well."

* * *

"Oh that's right…" Ayako suddenly remembered as she and Shirou arrived at Homurahara Academy. "…do you mind talking to Shinji for me?"

"What did he do this time?" Shirou asked in exasperation, and Ayako scowled.

"He had the newcomers lined up along the range and teased them until they got a hit." She said angrily. "I could do it on my own, but every time I try to talk to him he just runs away. And I can't just go around chasing him either as I've little time to do that with all my other responsibilities as club president."

Shirou made an unhappy sound. "Have you tried talking to Fuji-nee?" he asked.

"I could do that…" she admitted. "…but that could get real serious fast. As much as I hate to admit it, without you Shinji's our best archer. I'd rather not cut the club's legs out from under it unless I have to."

"Alright…" Shirou said while scratching the back of his head. "…I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks Shirou…" Ayako said with a smile. "…it means a lot."

"I owe you don't I?" he said, and she laughed.

"Yes you do, but this is just one, and you owe me a lot more."

"Yes, yes…" he admitted. "…still, I can't help but worry that Shinji's attitude is going to get him into trouble one of these days."

"Which attitude...?" she asked as they entered the main school building. "His womanizing or his sense of self-entitlement…?"

"Both." Shirou admitted as they changed their outdoor shoes for indoor ones.

"I'm not sorry to say that I hope that he does get into trouble over it." Ayako said over her shoulder. Shirou looked troubled, but Ayako stood and just crossed her arms stubbornly. "Even if he's the only heir to an old family, that kind of attitude won't be of any good in the real world. Otherwise, we'd be seeing a lot of blooded people acting like him, and that doesn't seem to be the case, doesn't it?"

"No, I suppose not." Shirou admitted. "And I hate to say it, but a bit of trouble over his…well…how should I call it…"

"Mischief…? Troublemaking…?"

Shirou smiled. "Mischief will do…" he said soothingly, and Ayako smiled weakly as well, lowering her arms in the process. "…a bit of trouble for him from all the mischief he does would probably do him a world of good…though I'd rather not say that again, even to you."

Ayako sighed and shook her head. "You're such a good person Shirou…" she said. "…and it's why I like you."

"You do…?"

Ayako blinked and her cheeks flushed ever so slightly. She coughed. "Anyway…" she said while moving to leave. "…I've got some things to do. See you later Shirou."

"Alright, see you."

* * *

"Strange…" Frost said as she ate brunch with Illya on a balcony in Castle von Einzbern, once again in her usual white dress. The older girl raised an eyebrow before lowering her utensils.

"What is strange?" Illya asked while wiping at her mouth with a table napkin, and then taking a drink of her orange juice. Leysritt refilled it at once.

"There are no bounded fields around the Makiri property." Frost said, tapping a finger on the table before her. "That can't be right."

"Could your familiars' sensing protocols be damaged?" Illya ventured. "Or maybe the Caster-class has shrouded the place."

"Both are possible." Frost said before taking a sip of her coffee. Her eyes briefly went blank as she issued commands to her familiars, and then she blinked. "I've shuffled my familiars' positions, and I'll be checking them over when they get back. That should cover the first possibility."

"And the second…?" Illya asked before returning to her meal.

"I'll have to come up with a plan for that." Frost admitted. "I'll have to confirm it first of course, but I also have to consider the possibility that the Makiri property's apparent lack of magical defenses is a form of…shall we say a trap of some kind?"

"It's certainly possible." Illya agreed. "It would be very much like him to feign an appearance of weakness to draw unwary prey in…damn parasite. However…"

She trailed off, and Frost shared a glance with Sella. "Illya…?" the former pressed. The older girl shook her head.

"No…" she said. "…it's nothing."

 _It's impossible…shouldn't it? Zouken Makiri couldn't have died…could he?_

* * *

The day passed quickly, night falling over Fuyuki City. Shirou Emiya walked home alone, returning from his shift at the bar he worked at part-time. As he walked down the street, he came to a halt as he found himself staring, mesmerized by the little girl with long, snow-white hair and purple clothes standing before him. She smiled and began to walk towards him.

"If you don't want to die…" she said as she passed. "…hurry and summon one soon onii-chan."

Shirou spun after her, only to find the street empty behind him. A raptor's cry from the skies above further spiked his danger sense, and he rushed home with all haste. Elsewhere another such raptor in the sky brought a smile to a certain blonde's lips. "Well Frost…" she said as she stood under a tree in her rented mansion. "…I look forward to crossing paths with you."

Another raptor brought a frown to Archer's face, and he began to summon his bow only to be stopped by Rin. "There's no need to provoke another Master…yet." She said. "Let them come to us for now."

"I understand." He said, relaxing, and Rin smiled as they looked out over the city from the roof of one of Fuyuki's skyscrapers.

"Still…" she said, changing the topic. "…I'm quite impressed. To spot a familiar at that distance and at night to boot, you've got quite the eyes."

"I am honored by your praise…" Archer said smugly. "…but that was child's play. The number of bolts on that bridge over there…now that's a bit more challenging, but I can still see them as though I was right next to them."

"Really…?" Rin asked as she placed an arm around Archer's waist, and he did likewise before jumping them both towards another vantage point.

"The Archer-class is far from useless." He replied, and she smiled with a mix of apology and smugness.

"My apologies if I caused offence." She said, and he shrugged.

"None taken…" he said. "…I have merely taken your comments as a test of my abilities. I trust that you won't be surprised by everything that happens from here on out?"

"Humph…" Rin snorted. "…I have been preparing for this for a long time now."

"That's good to hear, Rin."

* * *

A/N

EVA-Saiyajin: eh, that's only if he's hostile to you, or at least that's how I've always seen him. Illya certainly never got affected by his aura, and even if we put it down to her amoral and sadistic streak shrugging it off, well Frost can be as cold as her name if she wants to be.

No, Ayako and Shirou are not BF and GF. They're close, but not that close. Should I develop it further?

Seriously though, if Frost and Sakura were to meet, I doubt if they'd recognize each other. The former would recognize the latter as a Makiri, and the latter would recognize the former as an Einzbern, but nothing more. Even their voices would not be a clue: I didn't write it in, but I imagine that Frost – and Illya as well (or she should) – has a distinct German accent when speaking in Japanese. They would think though, how strange it is that they have a certain resemblance to each other.


	7. Chapter 6

I don't own Fate. Fate is the property of Type-Moon, and no financial gain is made from this or is sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

Frozen Memories

Chapter 6

Frost von Einzbern pulled back the tarp covering the dead Irishwoman, and frowned at the way she'd apparently been killed…and why. "Bazett Fraga McRemitz…" she said. "…I'd heard that you were a competent Enforcer…and yet you were taken by surprise nevertheless."

Frost tilted her head, and gently caressed the dead woman's face. The skin was cold and pale, and the eyes were closed, but she was a very pretty woman, even in death. The red hair was a perfect shade too. Frost allowed herself a small smile of self-deprecation over what that might say about her.

 _What a shame to die so young and so unfulfilled._

"Her command spells were stolen…" she said, releasing Bazett's face and inspecting the bloody stump of the dead Enforcer's arm. "…which means that there's one Servant out there has a new Master. How troublesome..."

Frost replaced the tarp and stood. All around her Einzbern homunculi were either standing guard or were busy looking for anything that might be of worth. Even more homunculi stood guard outside, all armed with submachine guns and other modern weapons.

 _It never hurts to be_ _ **too**_ _careful._

"Lady Frost…" one of the homunculi began, her fatigues marked with a _feldwebel's_ insignia. "…what should we do with her?"

"Check for a crest…" Frost ordered. "…if she does, then send it back to the MrRemitz Clan in Ireland. A bit of grace on our part could pay off handsomely if we play our cards right. As for the body…I want it in stasis once we finish all non-invasive analysis procedures are done. Afterwards send it back to Germany. Even dead, a magus' body is a treasure trove of information. The McRemitz bloodline isn't particularly noteworthy by the Clock Tower's standards, but they do go back to the Age of Gods, and I'm sure the family will find it most interesting material."

"And if she does not have a crest?"

"My orders stand."

"I understand my lady." The homunculus said and throwing a salute. Frost nodded, and the homunculus barked orders in German. Two homunculi stepped up, picked up the covered stretcher Bazett was lying in, and carried her away. Frost meanwhile put her hands into her pockets and walked around the residence that had once been Bazett's hideout.

"Did you find anything useful?" she asked another homunculus.

"Reagents and mystic codes for the most part, my lady." The homunculus said with a bow. "As per standard procedure, the former will be documented and then placed into our storage following security checks, while the latter will be placed in quarantine."

"Have them checked, and then sent to Germany as well." Frost replied, and then paused as a thought occurred to her. "Wait…check them, and then give me a rundown. Some of those might be of use to us, and the rest…well they can go home as material."

"Understood…" the homunculus said with another bow, but continued to hover diffidently to one side. Frost glanced at her after a moment.

"Do you have an objection?" she asked.

"No my lady…" the homunculus said. "…however we've found a relatively powerful bounded field keeping a small repository secure…"

The homunculus trailed off as Frost gestured, and then led her to the repository in question. A trio of homunculi were working on finding weak-points and breaching the field, but they stepped back as Frost approached. She pulled out her combat knife, the KM2000's stainless steel blade humming as Frost ran it along the field's edge.

"Hmm…" Frost hummed as she stepped around the repository, backpedalled, her arm moving up and down, side-to-side as she figured out the dimensions of the bounded field. Her eyes lit up as she noticed a barely-visible set of runes engraved at regular intervals into the wall around the repository. "…impressive work…almost no weak-points whatsoever…"

She stepped back, sheathing her knife. "Get the shaped charges." She ordered, and a homunculus ran off to obey. A minute later and she returned with a metal box. Laid on the ground and opened, Frost removed several charges and planted them around the repository. She stepped back…and then she and the homunculi present bolted for cover. They barely made it in time before a series of crumping noises along with a dull 'whump' signaled the collapse of the bounded field.

Frost held up a hand, and raised her pistol and fired a single shot into the repository door. Sparks exploded as a trap was triggered, releasing enough power to fry an adult Human three times over. The defenses neutralized, Frost stepped closer and opened the repository. It was full of books and scrolls, and taking one and unrolling it she ran a quick eye over it.

 _Damn…_

As might be expected, they were all written in Irish Gaelic, a language which the German spell-caster had absolutely no comprehension of. She rolled the scroll up and put it back inside. And then she turned to face her homunculi. "Gather up the materials…" she said. "…send them to Germany as well, and don't forget the documentation."

The homunculi nodded, and Frost turned to the leader again. "Was there anything else that I needed to know about?" she asked.

"No my lady." She said with a bow, and Frost nodded.

"Carry on…" she said, and strolled off. However her thought were already whirling as to who the Master was who replaced Bazett. Along with the three 'extra' Masters – two actually since Luvia was one of them – that meant there was another unknown out there. She didn't like unknowns and variables they made things too…unpredictable.

 _And there's also the fact that Bazett_ _ **was**_ _the Association representative to deal with._

* * *

"Archer…" Rin whispered as she quietly walked over to the windows of her classroom. All around her, her classmates ate and chatted over lunch, unaware of what was going on beyond the mundane world. "…have you noticed?"

" _I have._ " He replied telepathically. " _It seems that there's a Servant here. For now he seems content to stay quiet but…_ "

"I know." Rin said. "What killing intent…but we can't move right now. We have to wait until everyone else has left the school."

" _I understand, Rin._ " Archer said, and she returned to her meal. Elsewhere in the school, Ayako and Shirou sat with Student Council Chairman Issei Ryuudo. "By the way…" Issei began. "…have you heard?"

"No we haven't." Ayako replied flippantly, and he threw her a half-hearted glare which she ignored.

"Did you notice that there a lot of policemen in the suburbs earlier today?" he asked, and Shirou looked thoughtful.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, that's true. What's it all about?" he asked, and Issei looked grim.

"Apparently there was a serial killing." He said darkly, and Ayako narrowed her eyes as she lowered her sandwich. "A family of four were killed in their home. Strangely-enough, the murder weapon appears to have been a bladed weapon along the lines of a spear or a sword. But that's not the strangest part: the strangest part is that there are no signs of forced entry _or_ any hard evidence on sight at all. The police are baffled."

"So they haven't got any leads?" Shirou asked heatedly, and Issei shook his head.

"None…" he said, and finally caught the dark look being thrown his way by Ayako. He coughed apologetically. "…anyway I shouldn't have brought it up over a meal. Sorry."

"No, it's alright." Shirou said, and Ayako coughed.

"Well I'm guessing that apart from club activities that's why the school insists everyone go home as early as possible." She said. "I can't say I blame them, but it's sound advice regardless. Moving on though…"

She paused and turned to Shirou. "By the way…" she began. "…have you talked to Shinji yet?"

"Hmm…?" Shirou said, shaken out of a reverie. "Oh Shinji…yeah I talked to him yesterday."

"And what did he say?"

"He said he'd try and be more supportive of newcomers…" Shirou said while rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably. "…and that he'd go easier on them…"

"I thought as much." Ayako said in exasperation.

"I'd rather not say this, but talking to Matou about his behavior is probably one of the more unproductive things one can contemplate." Issei put in. "He's of a rather one-track mentality."

"Well at least you tried…" Ayako grumbled but with a smile at Shirou. "…it probably didn't work, but thanks anyway. You did what you could, but it's my turn next."

"Didn't you say that you didn't want to cut the club's legs out from under it…?" Shirou asked, and Ayako scoffed.

"I did…" she admitted. "…but I've got responsibilities and expectations to live up to. And if I can't get him to shape up, then I've got no choice."

"Put like that…" Issei remarked approvingly with a nod, and Shirou sighed in resignation. Shinji was going to get booted out of the Archery Club at this rate, and while it wasn't exactly undeserved…

"Just don't be too hard on him." He said, and Ayako shrugged and returned to her meal.

"I'll see what I can do…" She said. "…but no promises Shirou."

"That's about as best I can expect, I think." He said, sharing a glance with Issei.

* * *

Half a day later and Shirou wiped the floor of the archery clubroom with his usual enthusiasm. Granted, Shinji was probably shirking some kind of punishment (either from Ayako or from Taiga) as opposed to merely shirking cleaning duty in favor of going out with some of his 'girlfriends', but Shirou had still accepted his request of a favor.

 _In return though Shinji had promised to remember what they had talked about the previous day._

Shirou privately doubted that much would come of it, but he could hope. Unknown to him, he was caught in the middle of an imminent battle. Rin Tohsaka stood up from where she was crouched, hiding on the school rooftop. A blue-haired man in a blue outfit stood, perfectly-balanced across from her on the railing.

"Fine night isn't it, young lady?" he asked. "And the same goes for you too, Servant."

"You can see Archer…?" Rin said in shock. She knew that only the Assassin and maybe the Caster could completely hide their presence, but she certainly never expected that apart from the Caster another Servant could spot a fellow Servant in astral form.

"That's right." The enemy Servant said with a grin. "And that means you're my enemy!"

With a surge of prana he materialized his weapon: a crimson lance that positively reeked of blood. "Archer…!" Rin shouted as she ran for the edge. The enemy Servant leaped after her, closing the distance in one move, but she jumped over the edge. "The landing is up to you…!"

There was no response, verbal or telepathic, but as she plummeted to her seeming death, she abruptly slowed, and then landed gently on her feet. She resumed running immediately. " _His weapon is a lance._ " She thought. " _The Servant Lancer…in open ground with lots of space, he has the advantage. If we're going to get an advantage, then we need to open the distance and get to higher…!_ "

Her thoughts on strategy broke off as Lancer landed just before her, and she sprang back, Archer materializing between Rin and the enemy. Lancer crouched in a ready stance. "So you're the Archer…?" he asked.

"That's right." Archer replied neutrally. For a moment there was silence, both Servants and the one Master there only marginally aware of the arrival of a raptor familiar which alighted on the now empty roof, its mistress watching through its eyes. None were aware of a certain witch watching through her magic elsewhere.

"You don't look like much." Lancer taunted with a bloodthirsty grin. Archer ignored the slight against him, and directed his words towards his Master.

"Rin…" he began. "…what are your orders?"

Rin blinked, and then smiled resolutely. "Archer…" she ordered. "…show me your power!"

In an instant, a pair of black and white falchions materialized in his hands, and Archer leapt forward to attack. Lancer mirrored his move, his face twisted into a sneer. "An Archer trying to imitate a Saber…?" he shouted contemptuously. "Don't joke around!"

Archer caught the stab aimed at his chest, but Lancer's lance flashed into a series of short slashes and stabs that sent both his blades flying. It didn't matter. Lancer's eyes widened as Archer summoned a fresh pair of swords – the same ones lying elsewhere on the battlefield – and continued the battle.

He smiled.

Archer was for the most part on the defensive, parrying and dodging, and while Lancer could disarm his from time to time he only did the same trick as before. And on the rare occasion that Archer would launch an attack, he came quite close – always – to marking him. Lancer smiled with satisfaction. An Archer that could fight like a Saber was unexpected…but it was also very satisfying.

"You're not bad at all!" Lancer said gleefully as a fresh riposte by Archer sent him staggering back. "Who are you?"

"Good question…" Archer said as he swung one blade to force Lancer's lance to one side, while the other swung towards the spearman's neck. "…you on the other hand are quite easy to recognize."

Lancer avoided the decapitating blow, nimbly moving and riposting the swords out of his enemy's hands. Once again the same blades reappeared in Archer's hands, and blocked his counterattack. "…there's only one spearman in the world as good as you." Archer finished as he swept his blades outwards in parallel arcs, and driving Lancer back.

The spearman's legs tensed for a fresh attack, but a gasp from one side caught their attention. Eyes turned to Shirou Emiya, who fled in an instant. "A witness…!" Lancer shouted, moving to pursue.

"There was someone…Archer…!" Rin shouted, her Servant quickly moving to pursue Lancer in his turn.

* * *

Luviagelita Edelfelt opened her eyes, watching through a familiar – a barn owl hidden in a tree as opposed to Frost's raptor perched on the roof in open sight – the battle begin, progress, and end. She turned to her Servant. "Lancer and Archer's battle was interrupted." She said. "Apparently there was a witness present."

Rider blinked, and an expression of concern appeared on his face. "Was he killed?" he asked, his voice worried but Luvia could tell he wasn't worried about secrecy…not in this case.

"Lancer stabbed him." She replied. "But apparently Tohsaka saved him. As much as I hate to say it, but Tohsaka should at least be fairly competent, so she probably altered his memories afterwards."

Rider smiled and nodded. "That is good my lady." He said. "There is no need for unnecessary death in this contest. If a way exists to resolve matters without undue bloodshed, then it should be preferred."

Luvia nodded her agreement, albeit for different reasons. Rider did so out of chivalry, which frowned upon the abuse of strength, while she did so out of pragmatism and professional pride. Corpses were more difficult to cover up as opposed to simply altering memories, and professionally she preferred not to kill any more people than strictly necessary.

"All combatants and the witnesses have withdrawn." Luvia said while rising from her chair and walking towards a table where a bread basket awaited. "Looks like the first battle of the war ends in a draw."

Rider bowed. "My lady…" he began. "…if I may suggest, perhaps it would be best if your familiars followed Lady Tohsaka? Lancer may or may not seek to resume the battle before the night is out, if the earlier description of his bloodlust is any indication."

Luvia paused buttering her bread, and nodded her agreement. "Good idea…" she said, already passing the command onto her familiars. "…thank you Rider."

"I am your sword, my lady." The knight said with another bow.

* * *

"You are sure…?" a worried Illya asked, her finger tapping against an arm of her chair. Her serious expression and demeanor were a stark contrast to the swinging of her feet.

" _I saw him come home._ " Frost replied telepathically. " _Tohsaka patched him up, it would seem._ "

"While I am grateful for that…" Illya said. "…it certainly seems out of character for her."

" _I wouldn't think so._ " Frost countered. " _Tohsaka no doubt sees the contest as an honorable contest between magi. She'll try to show off her best qualities, true or not. Showing magnanimity by saving a witness' life and only altering his memories would make for an excellent show._ "

"Humph…" Illya scoffed. "…typical Tohsaka: all show and no substance..."

" _Now, now dear cousin…_ " Frost gently admonished. " _…it's true that Tohsaka is just a little girl, but she's still an Average One for all that. Underestimating her is quite likely a road to an early grave. Control over the Five Elements is not something to be taken lightly._ "

"I will admit that her talents are…substantial…" Illya conceded grudgingly. "…but do you really think that she's genuine?"

" _Genuine…?_ " Frost echoed, her thoughts tinged with confusion.

"Earlier you implied that she _might_ have some admirable qualities beyond her magical talent." Illya explained. "Is there basis for that?"

" _She's a child._ " Frost said with the mental equivalent of a shrug. " _That leads to two possibilities. One: she has a naïve view of the world, and can be expected to idolize and to emulate the idealized vision of a noble and honorable magus. On the other hand…_ "

"She could be an amoral child without any scruple. There is nothing more cruel or innocent as a child." Illya finished, without any hint of hypocritical humor. The mental equivalent of a cough slipped through their telepathic link.

" _Personally I think it's the former…_ " Frost said after several moments.

"And your basis…?" Illya challenged.

" _She just rushed out of her property with her Servant and is most likely headed for the Emiya property._ " Frost replied with a hint of urgency, which also forestalled any outburst from Illya. " _It seems that she and I have belatedly come to the realization that Lancer's Master might find out about our witness' survival, he'd send Lancer to finish the job and memory alteration be damned._ "

Illya was on her feet in an instant, and rushing through her castle brushing Sella, Leysritt, and other servants' concerns aside. "Berserker…!" she shouted as she swept down her staircase, the giant materializing on his knee at the base. With an elegant hop, she jumped onto his shoulder, and the giant turned, lumbering out of the school. "Let's go save my brother!"

* * *

Paper tore apart as Lancer kicked Shirou out of his house and into the courtyard, but to the boy's credit he quickly rolled to his feet and began to run towards his workshop. Without any hint of haste, Lancer phased through the other paper door, and glanced towards Shirou's direction. He was about halfway there when Lancer closed the distance and kicked the boy in the side.

The kick had enough force to send Shirou flying to strike the wall above the door, the boy tumbling down against the ground only to be kicked through the door and into the workshop. As the boy struggled to catch his breath, Lancer – impressed despite it all – crouched down before him. "Give up boy…" he said. "…you can't win."

With a shout of defiance, Shirou lunged at him, only for Lancer to destroy his battered makeshift weapon with a single hit. Shirou fell back, his stance defiant as Lancer levelled his weapon at him. "Checkmate…" he said with a grin. "…you were good boy, but not good enough. Too bad, you might have been the 'seventh' too. But this time, I'll make sure you won't get up again."

Shirou ground his teeth, unwilling to just die like this. " _Am I going to die here?_ " he thought angrily to himself, the pain of Lancer's blows numbing him to the prana beginning to circulate through his circuits. Behind him, a magic circle began to glow. " _I can't die here! I can't let this life someone saved go to waste!_ "

The instant those thoughts passed through his mind, his command spells flared bright in resonance with the magic circle behind him, the light of the latter blinding Shirou and Lancer alike. Prana flowed and materialized into a blonde girl in a dress of blue and silver metal armor. A blast of wind erupted as she charged forward, Lancer barely blocking her strike only to be send flying outside, while Shirou was knocked back onto the ground.

As he gathered himself, he found himself staring, mesmerized by the sheer beauty of the girl before him. There was nothing artificial about it, and that was perhaps why she was so beautiful, so pure and perfect was she by herself, that any attempt to further it would be insults in themselves.

"I ask of you…" she spoke, breaking him out of his reverie. "…are you my Master?"

* * *

A/N

Still somewhat canon, though we'll be swerving from it in a couple of chapters or so.


End file.
